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Journal of Nonlinear Optical Physics & Materials

ATOMIC VELOCITY SELECTION BY INTERFERENCE IN TWO-PHOTON IONIZATION

Jean Claude Garreau, David Wilkowski, Daniel Hennequin, Véronique Zehnlé

Published Oct 1, 1996• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper discusses a new scheme for generating quantum coherence between different degrees of freedom of an atom interacting with two modes of the electromagnetic field. The presence of quantum interference in a two-photon coupling between the ground state of the atom and the continuum through two quasi-resonant intermediate states induces selective ionization of the atoms for particular combinations of the different parameters characterizing the degrees of freedom of the system, leading to quantum coherence between the internal state, the center-of-mass motion of the atom, and the electromagnetic field. The application of this method to the selection of an atomic velocity class is discussed.

DOI
10.1142/s0218863596000647

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This paper discusses a new scheme for generating quantum coherence between different degrees of freedom of an atom interacting with two modes of the electromagnetic field. The presence of quantum interference in a two-photon coupling between the ground state of the atom and the continuum through two quasi-resonant intermediate states induces selective ionization of the atoms for particular combinations of the different parameters characterizing the degrees of freedom of the system, leading to quantum coherence between the internal state, the center-of-mass motion of the atom, and the electromagnetic field. The application of this method to the selection of an atomic velocity class is discussed.
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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.
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Atoms irradiated with combined femtosecond laser and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) fields ionize through multiphoton processes, even when the energy of the XUV photon is below the ionization potential. However, in the presence of two different XUV photons and an intense laser field, it is possible to induce full electromagnetic transparency. Taking helium as an example, the laser field modifies its electronic structure, while the presence of two different XUV photons and the laser field leads to two distinct ionization pathways that can interfere destructively. This work demonstrates a new approach for coherent control in a regime of highly excited states and strong optical fields.