Manipulation of atomic l-state distributions using pulsed electric fields

A technique to manipulate the l-state distribution of high-n high-n Rydberg atoms is described that is based on the application of a large-amplitude r ectangular electric field pulse whose rise and fall times are short compare d to the classical electron orbital period and whose duration is comparable to the Stark period in the field. It is shown that by varying the duration (and/or amplitude) of this pulse, the final l-state distribution can be co ntrolled and that this distribution can be calculated reliably using classi cal trajectory Monte Carlo techniques.