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Physical Review Letters

Free-Free Transitions Following Six-Photon Ionization of Xenon Atoms

Pierre Agostini, F. Fabre, G. Mainfray, G. Petite, N. K. Rahman

Published Apr 23, 1979• 1,489 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The energy spectrum of electrons produced by multiphoton ionization of xenon atoms has been analyzed with a retarding potential technique. We have shown that the discrete absorption of photons above the six-photon ionization threshold was observable under specified conditions. A simple model based upon inverse bremsstrahlung gives a resonable agreement with the experiments.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.42.1127

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The energy spectrum of electrons produced by multiphoton ionization of xenon atoms has been analyzed with a retarding potential technique. We have shown that the discrete absorption of photons above the six-photon ionization threshold was observable under specified conditions. A simple model based upon inverse bremsstrahlung gives a resonable agreement with the experiments.
The energy spectrum of electrons produced by multiphoton ionisation of xenon atoms has been measured, using a new type of electron energy analyser with an acceptance angle of 2 pi sr. Absorption of additional photons above the minimum number required for ionisation has been observed in the non-resonant as well as in the resonant multiphoton ionisation process. In the resonant proces the AC Stark shift is used to link wavelength detuning to the light intensity, in order to find the probability of extra photon absorption as a function of light intensity.
Experiments using monochromated synchrotron radiation revealed that for densities of the order of 1019{10}^{19}1019 atoms/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 and more, xenon exhibits a continuous photoresponse excitation spectrum below the atomic ionization potential (12.12 eV). The lower limit of the continuum is at about 11.10 eV, the energy difference between the ground state of the molecular ion Xe2+\mathrm{Xe}_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{+}Xe2​​+ and that of the free atom. This is attributed to excimer formation at the wings of the atomic absorption lines followed by ionization and creation of xenon dimer ions. Dips appearing in the continuum very near to positions of atomic lines are discussed invoking the quasistatic theory.
The double ionization of xenon in the multiphoton regime has been studied at two wavelengths (0.77 and 0.79 microm) using an electron-ion coincidence technique and an intensity binned ion ratio method. Sharp resonant structures in the electron energy distribution correlated with the doubly charged ion, as well as a wavelength dependence of the Xe(2+)/Xe(+) ratio provides new insights. A mechanism involving the shelving of population in Rydberg states followed by excitation of a core electron is proposed.
We have measured and analyzed the clear emergence of ac-Stark-shifted multiphoton resonances with successive photon orders in xenon. The remarkable quality of our data illustrates the unambiguous evolution through parity-allowed resonances at the eight- and subsequent nine-photon levels. This marks a significant advance in showing that the transient resonance model is valid and strong optical-field ionization remains multiphoton in character at higher intensities. Furthermore, a simple Landau-Zener picture is sufficient to understand the basic principles.