title: Electric Field Cancellation on Quartz by Rb Adsorbate-Induced Negative Electron Affinity.
abstract: We investigate the (0001) surface of single crystal quartz with a submonolayer of Rb adsorbates. Using Rydberg atom electromagnetically induced transparency, we investigate the electric fields resulting from Rb adsorbed on the quartz surface, and measure the activation energy of the Rb adsorbates. We show that the adsorbed Rb induces negative electron affinity (NEA) on the quartz surface. The NEA surface allows low energy electrons to bind to the surface and cancel the electric field from the Rb adsorbates. Our results will be important for integrating Rydberg atoms into hybrid quantum systems, as fundamental probes of atom-surface interactions, and for studies of 2D electron gases bound to surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sedlacek
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225, USA.|Department of Physics, The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland 21402, USA.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Rittenhouse
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Weck
authors.affiliation: ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Sadeghpour
authors.affiliation: Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Shaffer