PROGRAMMABLE CESIUM RYDBERG WAVE-PACKETS

We have used amplified, programmable, shaped optical pulses to enginee r Rydberg wave packets in cesium. Our apparatus employs a computer-con trolled liquid-crystal pulse shaper which could control either the pha se or the magnitude of the pulse's spectrum. The shaped optical field was analyzed via cross correlation and frequency-resolved optical gati ng. The wave-packet evolution was analyzed by monitoring temporal inte rference via the optical Ramsey method to obtain both auto- and cross- interferograms of the engineered wave packet.