The object of this letter is to show that, in some limiting cases, a simple model using an atomic density operator and a classical description of the field allows one to study the influence of the characteristics (duration and shape) of the excitation pulse on resonant multiphoton ionization.
The short-time behavior of atomic multiphoton-ionization profiles is investigated using simplified models of the field and the atom. The importance of including many levels in the model atom, of spontaneous emission, and of pulse shape are studied in detail. It is shown that the first two of these have little influence on the qualitative behavior of the short-time behavior of the resonance profile, but that the third, the pulse shape, is critical in determining the time evolution of the resonance profile.
The most important results of study of multiphoton ionization of atoms are reviewed. Discussions are presented of specific features of the process, theoretical methods of description of ionization of atoms in a strong light field, the basic principles of design of experiments in which intense laser radiation is used, results of investigation of direct and resonance processes of multiphoton ionization, and the mutual relation between multiphoton processes (multiphoton excitation and ionization) and various phenomena leading to perturbation of the spectrum of bound states of an electron in an atom under the influence of a strong light field.