Physical Review A
Two-color photoionization of helium above the N=2 ionization threshold
Thomas Grosges, Bernard Piraux, H. Bachau
Abstract
We study two-color photoionization of helium in the region of the $3s3d{}^{1}D$ autoionizing state with resonant excitation of the intermediate $2s2p{}^{1}P$ autoionizing state. We show that the corresponding time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation may be solved by expanding the total wave function on a few complex energy states. Perimetric coordinates are used to describe correlation effects accurately. Populations at the end of the interaction as well as photoionization probabilities are studied as a function of the laser pulse duration and both frequencies. Our calculations show that many continua play a crucial role at high intensities.