Engineering very-high-n polarized Rydberg states using tailored half-cycle-pulse sequences.
We show that strongly polarized very-high-n (n approximately 600) potassium Rydberg atoms can be produced by manipulating lower-n (n approximately 350) polarized atoms using a tailored sequence of ultrashort half-cycle pulses (HCPs). The protocol for this involves first a weak HCP that generates transient phase-space localization whereupon a second large HCP of opposite polarity excites the electron to a broad distribution of highly elongated states. This distribution is then refocused by a short periodic train of HCPs using the properties of (un)stable manifolds near fixed points in phase space.