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Physical Review A

Selective photoionization of the ytterbium atom by coherent two-photon excitation

Hyunmin Park, Jongmin Lee, Jai-Hyung Lee, Joon-Sung Chang

Published Mar 1, 1996• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Highly selective photoionization of the ytterbium atom by coherent two-photon excitation was demonstrated experimentally. The Yb atom was excited by two single-mode lasers and ionized by a time-delayed broadband laser. The isotope ratio of the ions was analyzed by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The ion yield and the selectivity were recorded as a function of detuning of the first exciting laser. The maximum of ion yield was observed when the laser was detuned from resonance. The selectivity of $^{168}\mathrm{Yb}$ was increased higher than 20 000 when the laser was blue-detuned to the most efficient position. Also, numerical analysis was performed to explain the experimental results. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.53.1751

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•Jan 1, 1987•1 citation
Highly selective photoionization of the ytterbium atom by coherent two-photon excitation was demonstrated experimentally. The Yb atom was excited by two single-mode lasers and ionized by a time-delayed broadband laser. The isotope ratio of the ions was analyzed by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The ion yield and the selectivity were recorded as a function of detuning of the first exciting laser. The maximum of ion yield was observed when the laser was detuned from resonance. The selectivity of 168Yb^{168}\mathrm{Yb}168Yb was increased higher than 20 000 when the laser was blue-detuned to the most efficient position. Also, numerical analysis was performed to explain the experimental results. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Selective photoionization of ytterbium isotope is studied numerically based on a three-step photoionization scheme, 4f146s2 1S0 (0 cm−1) → 4f146s6p 3P1 (17992.008 cm−1) → (4f136s26p) (7/2, 3/2)2 (35196.98 cm−1) → auto-ionization state (52353 cm−1) → Yb+, by the density matrix theory with the consideration of atomic hyperfine structures and magnetic sublevels. To examine the physical model, the numerical isotopic abundance of ytterbium is compared with that from mass spectroscopy experiment, showing that they are in good agreement with each other. The excitation process and ionization process of ytterbium, especially for odd isotopes, are discussed and analyzed in detail on this basis. The effects of frequency detuning, power densities, spectral bandwidths, polarization of two excitation lasers, and atomic Doppler broadening on the total ionization yield and isotopic abundance are investigated numerically and the optimal excitation conditions for 176Yb enrichment are identified semi-quantitatively.
The population inversion in a three-level atomic system, interacting with two coherent laser pulses, occurs from the first level to the third level at the optimal detunings of the laser frequencies near the two-photon resonance. An examination is performed to see whether the energy density and time-delay of the photoionizing laser can significantly influence the ion yield for the case where the atom interacts with two coherent pulses and one photoionizing pulse incoherently coupled. The well-known three-colour, three-step, three-photon ionization scheme, which is available for the selective photoionization of 168Yb, is chosen for use in this research with the Bloch equation. It is revealed that the proper time-delay and energy density enable us to achieve higher efficiency for the selective photoionization of 168Yb, regardless of the Doppler-broadening, though the efficiency and selectivity of coherent excitation are prominently enhanced by applying the optimal detunings.
The medium of the three-level Yb atom corresponding to the three-colour, three-step, three-photon scheme of 6 1 S 0 (0 cm -1 ) to 6 3 P 1 (17992008 cm -1 ) to (7/2, 3/2) 2 4f 13 6s 2 6p (35196.98 cm -1 ) to autoionization state (52353 cm -1 ) is chosen to examine the selective photoionization of 168 Yb. The Maxwell-Bloch equation is numerically solved, where the interacting laser pulses are supposed to be collinear and resonant with the transition lines of 168 Yb, and the effects of Doppler broadening and laser bandwidth are incorporated. Firstly, the thin medium dynamics are examined to determine the optimal energy of laser pulses for the selective photoionization of 168 Yb, and to determine Yb isotopes which have a large influence on the excitation of 168 Yb. Secondly, the thick medium dynamics are investigated, resulting in the fact that the laser pulse for the first transition is prominently deformed due to the near-resonant interaction with 171 Yb and 173 Yb, and the ion yield along the propagation of the laser beam is strongly dependent on the initial energy of pulse for the first transition and the time-delay between input pulses.
Coherent control provides a quantum interference based method for controlling atomic and molecular dynamics. We report two experimental observations of different ways to achieve such a control in atomic photoionization continuum. One is the photoionization of sodium atoms, initially prepared in the 3P1/2 excited state, by a non resonant three-photon interaction with 1064-nm laser light and by a one-photon interaction with the third-harmonic field, at 355 nm. Interference between the two transition paths allows the control of the total ionization rate by varying the relative phase of the laser fields. The second experiment is the observation of the modification of the ionization continua of xenon through laser induced continuum structure (LICS). The multiphoton radiative decay of the xenon ground state into the two electronic continua, that correspond to the two fine structure levels of the ground state of the xenon ion, is varied by electromagnetically embedding a bound state of the atom into the two continua. Both experiments are performed on an atomic beam apparatus which uses a time-of-flight spectrometer for energy analyzing the emitted photoelectrons.
Two methods have been used to measure the oscillator strength of the transition between the ground and 17,992 cm level in XUYb. The first technique involves exciting the transition with a laser pulse that is nearly time-bandwidth limited, of uniform intensity, and has a reproducible shape from shot to shot. The population left in the excited state after the pulse varies sinusoidally with a period that depends on the integral over time of the electric field amplitude and the transition oscillator strength. These are the Rabi oscillations that are predicted by application of the Schrodinger equation to the two-level atom. The second method involves observation of the polarization rotation of a set of degenerate sublevels brought about by a light-shift laser. One sublevel (m/sub j/ = 0) of the J = 1 level at 17,992 cm is populated by a linearly polarized laser. A second copropagating light-shift laser, which is linearly polarized at an angle to the first laser, is tuned between 7.5 and 30 GHz off-resonance with the transition. The light-shift laser causes population to be promoted into the m/sub j/ = +-1 levels through the virtual J = 0, m/sub j/ = 0 level. Two linearly polarized photoionizing lasers photoionize the population only from the m/sub j/ = +-1 levels. The photoion signal oscillates cosinusoidally with a period that depends only on the integrated pulse intensity, the laser detuning, and the transition oscillator strength. Finally, polarization selectivity has been shown experimentally to allow selective photoionization of the odd isotopes of ytterbium using broadband lasers.