Reduction of the dc electric field sensitivity of circular Rydberg states using non-resonant dressing fields

Non-resonant dressing fields can make the transition frequency between two circular Rydberg states insensitive to second order variations in the dc electric field. Perturbation theory can be used to establish the required dressing field amplitude and frequency. The same perturbative approach may be used to understand removal of the first order dependence of the transition frequency on electric field about a bias dc electric field [Hyafil et al. Phys. Rev. Lett., v. 93, 103001 (2004)]. The directional alignment of the dressing and dc fields is critical in determining the electric field sensitivity of the dressed transition frequencies. This sensitivity is significantly larger for circular Rydberg states compared to low-angular momentum Rydberg states of Rb.