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Journal of Applied Physics

Resonant multiphoton ionization of neon by a ruby laser

R. Benattar, G. Sultan

Published Oct 1, 1974• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report resonant multiphoton ionization in neon. The study of the interaction volume shows that the size of the focused region depends on the laser power, order of interaction, and energy of photon. Thus we have chosen a resonant approach. The results show a discrepancy of 6 cm−1 between the experimental multiphoton resonance and the theoretically predicted one. We explain this discrepancy by the perturbative effect of the intense electromagnetic field of the laser on the resonant atomic level 11p [3/2]1,2 of neon.

DOI
10.1063/1.1663084

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Journal de physique•Jan 1, 1978•39 citations
We report resonant multiphoton ionization in neon. The study of the interaction volume shows that the size of the focused region depends on the laser power, order of interaction, and energy of photon. Thus we have chosen a resonant approach. The results show a discrepancy of 6 cm−1 between the experimental multiphoton resonance and the theoretically predicted one. We explain this discrepancy by the perturbative effect of the intense electromagnetic field of the laser on the resonant atomic level 11p [3/2]1,2 of neon.
This paper studies the resonant multiphoton ionization (RMPI) phenomenon, in the case of caesium atoms interacting with the intense field of a neodymium-Glass laser. In the first part, we present a recent theory of RMPI, in a simplified form in order to obtain the main informations on the physics of RMPI. Then we present two experiments of RMPI : four-photon ionization of the caesium atom in its ground state, with a three-photon resonance on the 6F level and three-photon ionization of the caesium atom is its 62P3/2 state with a two-photon resonance on the 12F level. In the first experiment, the internal structure of the resonant transition is resolved, enabling us to point out and analyse the important effect of pulse shapes and focusing conditions on our experimental results, which are discussed in detail. We also give some new interpretations of results published previously [1]. In the second experiment, we measure the 12F fine structure — which is found to be (0.016 ± 0.008) cm-1 — and show that we have reached the limits imposed by the Doppler effect. These experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions suggesting that the physical picture given of RMPI by recent works on this subject is satisfactory.
Orer a small range of light intensity the three-photon ionization rate of caesium atoms by ruby laser light decreases when the incident photon flux is increased. This result may be quantitatively explained by an induced energy shift of the 913 levels of the caesium atom proportional to the square of the light intensity. Thus perturbations of bound electron states by an intense light beam can be of importance in determining the multiphoton ionization rate. In this paper the functional dependence of the ionization rate on the photon flux is calculated for caesium, using a perturbation theory somewhat different from that usually employed.
The non linear interaction between an intense laser radiation and atoms leads to ionization through the absorption of N photons from the laser radiation via laser-induced virtual states. The multiphoton ionization rate varies as a function of the laser intensity I as IN. We discuss the two most important effects which govern multiphoton ionization processes : resonance effects and laser-coherence effects. In a moderate laser intensity range (107 - 109 W cm-2) corresponding to the two, three or four-photon ionization of atoms, resonance effects play a dominant role while the photon statistics of the laser radiation are relatively unimportant. On the contrary, in the very high intensity range (1012 - 1013 W cm-2) required to observe large Nth - order ionization processes, coherence effects play a dominant role through N! enhancement in the N-photon ionization rate, while resonance effects are completely damped due to the high laser intensity. We conclude by reviewing the possible applications of multiphoton absorption processes in other fields.
We have studied two-photon resonant three-photon ionization of atomic sodium vapor. A dye laser tuned to either the 4d or 5s two-photon allowed transition was used to excite the atom and a second more intense laser (λ = 7000 Å) was used for ionization. The ion yield was measured as a function of resonant laser intensity and detuning, the nonresonant laser intensity, and the temporal overlap of the exciting and ionizing laser pulses. We have found1 that at high laser intensities the photoionization yield decreases as the nonresonant laser intensity is increased. When tuned to the 5s level a value of ~−0.6 was obtained for the exponential index even with the resonant laser tuned to maximize the ion yield. A theoretical model including the effects of Stark shift of the ground state, power broadening of the intermediate level due to saturation of the two-photon transition and by rapid transitions to the ionization continuum was used to predict the experimental results. Good agreement between theory and experiment required the use of a photoionization cross section for the 5s level which was ~20 times greater than the accepted value. Results for photoionization from the 4d level are also presented.
This paper reports the four-photon ionization of caesium atoms when the laser frequency is tuned through the resonant three-photon transition 6S → 6F. This experiment was performed by using a tunable-wavelength bandwidth-limited subnanosecond laser pulse at 1.06 μm, in the 108-109 W.cm-2 laser intensity range. Pulse widths of 1.5 ns, 50 ps, and 15 ps were used. The resonant character of the multiphoton ionization process was observed, even with the shortest pulse of 15 ps. Nevertheless the influence of a temporal effect is demonstrated according to theoretical predictions. The resonance shift ΔE of the 6S → 6F transition energy was found to be linear with the laser intensity I within the range 108-109 W.cm-2. ΔE = α I, with α = 2 cm-1/GW.cm-2. This result confirms previous measurements performed with single-mode 35 ns laser pulses and is in very good agreement with calculated resonance shifts.