Collisional shift and broadening of Rydberg states in nitric oxide at room temperature

We report on the collisional shift and line broadening of Rydberg states in nitric oxide (NO) with increasing density of a background gas at room temperature. As a background gas we either use NO itself or nitrogen ($N_2$). The precision spectroscopy is achieved by a sub-Doppler three-photon excitation scheme with a subsequent readout of the Rydberg states realized by the amplification of a current generated by free charges due to collisions. The shift shows a dependence on the rotational quantum state of the ionic core and no dependence on the principle quantum number of the orbiting Rydberg electron. The experiment was performed in the context of developing a trace-gas sensor for breath-gas analysis in a medical application.