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Physical Review A

Photoelectron angular distributions for two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium

Yi-Yian Yin, Daniel S. Elliott

Published Apr 1, 1993• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper we report measurements of photoelectron angular distributions for two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium. These measurements are carried out over a range of laser wavelengths from 591 to 532 nm. Relative cross sections for the various photoionization channels and continuum-wave-function phase differences are derived from the data. These phase differences are not in good agreement with calculations of phase differences based on quantum-defect data and Coulomb phase shifts.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.47.2881

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In this paper we report measurements of photoelectron angular distributions for two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium. These measurements are carried out over a range of laser wavelengths from 591 to 532 nm. Relative cross sections for the various photoionization channels and continuum-wave-function phase differences are derived from the data. These phase differences are not in good agreement with calculations of phase differences based on quantum-defect data and Coulomb phase shifts.
We present our study on complete measurements of two-photon ionization in atomic rubidium. In this study we developed an effective technique to measure the angular distributions of photoelectrons. Through the measurements with this technique and using elliptically-polarized light we have successfully determined the atomic parameters—the relative cross sections for various ionization channels as well as the phase difference between s- and d-continuum waves. The measured phase differences are in excellent agreement with expected values over the entire range of photoelectron kinetic energy from 0 to 0.5 eV. The measured relative cross sections for ionization into S and D channels are also in good agreement with theoretical data. Both the relative cross sections and phase differences show a slow variation as a function of photoelectron energy. The ratios of cross sections of the two D channels are not in agreement with the expected value, suggesting fine structure effects. We also studied a quantum mechanical interference using two-color laser fields and observed the extremely asymmetric photoelectron angular distribution produced by interfering even- and odd-order photoionization processes in atomic rubidium as the optical phase was varied. We observed these effects with both perpendicularly and parallel-polarized fields components. It is worthy to note that the quantum interference observed with perpendicularly-polarized two-color fields is unique. Based on the analysis of measured angular distributions we derived the phase difference between even and odd continuum waves for the first time. The measured value of the phase difference is in good agreement with the calculated value from quantum defect theory.
We report in detail our complete characterization of atomic photoionization via a single measurement, namely, that of the two-photon photoelectron angular distribution using elliptically polarized light. Through these measurements we are able to determine the atomic parameters necessary to unambiguously describe two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium. These parameters include relative cross sections for photoionization into various outgoing channels as well as the phase difference between the continuum S and D partial waves. We present a derivation of the angular distribution with arbitrarily polarized light in terms of these cross sections and phases, demonstrate the advantages of using elliptically polarized light, discuss details of the experiment, and report the results of our measurements in this paper. While measured phase differences are in excellent agreement with expected values over the entire range of photoelectron kinetic energy of our measurements from 0 to 0.5 eV, ratios of cross sections for photoionization into the two D channels are anomalous, suggesting unexpected fine structure effects in these continua.
We report in detail our complete characterization of atomic photoionization via a single measurement, namely, that of the two-photon photoelectron angular distribution using elliptically polarized light. Through these measurements we are able to determine the atomic parameters necessary to unambiguously describe two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium. These parameters include relative cross sections for photoionization into various outgoing channels as well as the phase difference between the continuum S and D partial waves. We present a derivation of the angular distribution with arbitrarily polarized light in terms of these cross sections and phases, demonstrate the advantages of using elliptically polarized light, discuss details of the experiment, and report the results of our measurements in this paper. While measured phase differences are in excellent agreement with expected values over the entire range of photoelectron kinetic energy of our measurements from 0 to 0.5 eV, ratios of cross sections for photoionization into the two D channels are anomalous, suggesting unexpected fine structure effects in these continua.
We present a complete experimental determination of the atomic parameters necessary to unambiguously characterize two-photon ionization of atomic rubidium, i.e., the relative photoionization cross sections and the continuum wave function phase difference. We obtain these complete results through a single measurement, that of the two-photon photoelectron angular distribution using elliptically polarized light. While measured phase differences are in excellent agreement with expected values, the ratios of photoionization cross sections of the two D channels are not.
We have measured photoelectron angular distributions for single photon ionization of atomic rubidium and cesium and for two photon ionization of rubidium. The single-photon measurements show clear variation as a function of wavelength of the exciting laser due to the spin-orbit interaction. From these measurements we derive the Fano parameter, a measure of the relative strength of the dipole transition amplitudes from the ground state to the j = 1/2 and j = 3/2 continuum p states. These results are in excellent agreement with, and in some cases of much smaller uncertainty than, similar results obtained through measurements of the Fano effect and related polarization measurements. The two-photon measurements also vary with wavelength because of their dependence on relative cross sections and phase shifts of the p → d and p → s transitions, and the fine structure of the continuum d-state.