Polarizabilities of rubidium (9-10)S1/2 and 8D 3/2, 5/2 states

Polarizabilities of several rubidium states were determined by measuring stark shifts of transitions using an electro-optically modulated laser beam to excite an atomic beam. The voltage required for atoms excited by the laser beam in an electric field to be simultaneously in resonance as atoms excited by a frequency sideband of the laser in a field free region was measured. The scalar α and tensor α2 polarizabilities were found to be: α(9S1/2) = 103.77±0.09, α(10S1/2) = 272.54±0.16, α(8D3/2) = 230.68±0.25 and α2(8D3/2) = 26.55±0.10, α(8D5/2) = 222.68±0.14 and α2(8D5/2) = 51.91±0.10 MHz/(kV/cm)2. The results are 100 times more accurate than previous measurements and are within 1% of those found theoretically using a Coulomb approximation calculation.