Rydberg state excitation (RSE) of different atoms in elliptically polarized strong 800 nm laser fields is investigated experimentally, and the results are compared with calculations of the strong-field approximation (SFA) model and the semiclassical model. It is observed that the RSE probability declines with increasing laser ellipticity for all of the He, Ar, and Kr atoms. While the measured ellipticity dependence of He RSE is very consistent with the predictions of both the SFA and semiclassical calculations, the width of the ellipticity dependence for Ar and Kr atoms is wider than that of the SFA model but closer to the semiclassical calculations. Analysis indicates that unlike a tunneling-plus-rescattering process, the decline of the RSE yield with increasing ellipticity can be attributed to a decrease of electrons with low kinetic energy that could be captured in the Rydberg states by the Coulomb potential. It indicates that the atomic RSE process could be related to the very low or near-zero energy structure in the photoelectron spectrum in strong laser fields, which would stimulate further experimental and theoretical studies to reveal their underlying mechanisms.
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