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Physical Review A

Photoelectron angular distributions from multiphoton ionization of cesium atoms

R. N. Compton, John A. D. Stockdale, C. Dewey Cooper, Xian Tang, P. Lambropoulos

Published Oct 1, 1984• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present both experimental and theoretical studies of resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization of cesium atoms. Photoelectron angular distributions for two-photon ionization via the one-photon-allowed $7p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{2}}$ and $8p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{2}}$ intermediate states and three-photon ionization via the two-photon-allowed $8d^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2},\frac{3}{2}}$ resonant intermediate states are reported. The photoelectrons are energy analyzed with a spherical-sector electrostatic energy analyzer with an energy resolution of ~ 0.1 eV and angular resolution of ~ \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. A straightforward calculation based upon a finestructure scheme gives excellent agreement with the measured angular distributions for the $^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}$ states. The laser pulse duration is comparable to the hyperfine precession period which allows the hyperfine coupling to partially destroy the anisotropy initially produced in the $^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ resonant intermediate states. Quantitative calculations including hyperfine coupling take this into account and provide an expression which gives a reasonable fit to the $^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ data.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.30.1766

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Physical Review Letters•Feb 4, 1985•38 citations
We present both experimental and theoretical studies of resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization of cesium atoms. Photoelectron angular distributions for two-photon ionization via the one-photon-allowed 7p2P12,327p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{2}}7p2P21​,23​​ and 8p2P12,328p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{2}}8p2P21​,23​​ intermediate states and three-photon ionization via the two-photon-allowed 8d2D52,328d^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2},\frac{3}{2}}8d2D25​,23​​ resonant intermediate states are reported. The photoelectrons are energy analyzed with a spherical-sector electrostatic energy analyzer with an energy resolution of ~ 0.1 eV and angular resolution of ~ \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. A straightforward calculation based upon a finestructure scheme gives excellent agreement with the measured angular distributions for the 2P12^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}2P21​​ states. The laser pulse duration is comparable to the hyperfine precession period which allows the hyperfine coupling to partially destroy the anisotropy initially produced in the 2P32^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}2P23​​ resonant intermediate states. Quantitative calculations including hyperfine coupling take this into account and provide an expression which gives a reasonable fit to the 2P32^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}2P23​​ data.
Experimental and theoretical results are presented for resonantly enhanced three-photon ionization of cesium atoms in the wavelength range from 830 to 950 nm. The accidental near resonance of the 6p2P32,126p^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2},\frac{1}{2}}6p2P23​,21​​ levels at the one-photon energy and the near resonance at the two-photon level with the 6d2D32,526d^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2},\frac{5}{2}}6d2D23​,25​​ states gives rise to large ionization signals and interesting anomalies in the relative intensities of the fine-structure levels. "Hybrid resonances" are observed which involve the production of 6p2P126p ^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}6p2P21​​ atoms from molecular cesium. One hybrid resonance involves ionization of the 6p2P126p ^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}6p2P21​​ state via an electric quadrupole transition ($6p ^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}7p ^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$). Both experimental and theoretical photoelectron angular distributions are compared for all of the observed resonances except for the 6p2P326p ^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}6p2P23​​ state where the signals were too weak for such a measurement. Agreement between experiment and theory is fair for three-photon ionization via the 6p2P126p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}6p2P21​​ state. Comparison of experiment and theory for the case of the 6d2D32,526d^{2}D_{\frac{3}{2},\frac{5}{2}}6d2D23​,25​​ states indicates that hyperfine coupling during the laser-pulse duration may be important. The angular distributions for the hybrid resonances show the general behavior predicted by theory but the features appear broadened.
We report measurements of photoelectron angular distributions via electric quadrupole transitions in cesium atoms using multiphoton excitation techniques. Experimental results are presented for the cases of one-photon resonant, two-photon ionization via the 6d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ and 6d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ electric quadrupole transitions and for one-photon resonant, three-photon ionization via the 5d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2 D3/2{\mathrm{D}}_{3/2}D3/2​ and 5d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ transitions. The ratios of the total ionization rates for linearly and circularly polarized light have also been measured for the 6d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2D3/2{\mathrm{D}}_{3/2}D3/2​ and 6d 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ states. A theoretical analysis and detailed comparison with the experimental results are given.
Energy-resolved photoelectron angular distributions have been measured for the nd 2{}^{2}2D states (n=11--23) in cesium and rubidium atoms for two-photon resonant, three-photon ionization under conditions where the spin-orbit fine structure was not resolved. The photoelectron angular distributions reveal strong fine-structure mixing effects when the time duration of the laser pulse is longer than the time corresponding to the inverse of the fine-structure splitting of the nd states involved. Three-photon ionization photoelectron angular distributions for sodium atoms have been studied both experimentally and theoretically for laser frequencies in which resonance enhancement occurs via the two-photon excited nd 2{}^{2}2D states (n=5--9). The laser pulse duration is \ensuremath{\sim}6 ns which is comparable to or less than the fine-structure mixing time for the unperturbed fine-structure nd 2{}^{2}2D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​,3/2 levels. In addition, the high laser powers \ensuremath{\sim}108{10}^{8}108 W/cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2 employed result in alterations of the energy separations of the fine-structure levels (and cause corresponding changes in the mixing times) due to the ac Stark effect. A detailed theoretical analysis is presented and good agreement is obtained with the experimental results.
A theoretical investigation has been carried out on the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on laser intensity for the case of two-photon-resonant three-photon ionization of sodium. Good overall agreement is obtained with the experimental anisotropy parameters for ionization via the 4D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ and 4D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ intermediate states. The comparison of the theoretical results with the experimental data also clearly shows that the hyperfine splitting of the ground state has to be taken into account at high laser intensities although the low-intensity angular distributions do not depend on the initial ground hyperfine state.