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Originally published in Science Express on 10 February 2005
Science 18 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5716, pp. 1757 - 1760
DOI: 10.1126/science.1108470
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Reports

Microwave Manipulation of an Atomic Electron in a Classical Orbit

H. Maeda,* D. V. L. Norum, T. F. Gallagher

Although an atom is a manifestly quantum mechanical system, the electron in an atom can be made to move in a classical orbit almost indefinitely if it is exposed to a weak microwave field oscillating at its orbital frequency. The field effectively tethers the electron, phase-locking its motion to the oscillating microwave field. By exploiting this phase-locking, we have sped up or slowed down the orbital motion of the electron in excited lithium atoms by increasing or decreasing the microwave frequency between 13 and 19 gigahertz; the binding energy and orbital size change concurrently.

Department of Physics, University of Virginia, 382 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hm3c{at}virginia.edu.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)