Logic gates using high Rydberg states

Connected logic gates can be operated on the levels of one molecule by maki ng use of the special properties of high Rydberg states, Explicit experimen tal results for the NO molecule are provided as an example. A number of oth er options, including that of several gates concatenated so as to operate a s a full adder, are discussed. Specific properties of high Rydberg states t hat are used are: their autoionization is delayed so that they can be disti nguished from direct multiphoton ionization, during their long life such st ates also can decay by energy transfer to the molecular core in a way that can be controlled by the judicious application of very weak external electr ical fields, and the Rydberg states can be detected by the application of a n ionizing electrical field. The combination of two (or three) color photon s with and without external weak fields allows the construction of quite el aborate logic circuit diagrams and shows that taking advantage of the diffe rent intramolecular dynamics of levels that differ by their excitation enab les the compounding of logic operations on one molecular frame.