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arXiv:quant-ph/0311025 · Physical Review A

Two-color interference stabilization of atoms

Mikhail Vladimirovich Fedorov, Н. П. Полуэктов

Published Mar 12, 2004• 14 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The effect of interference stabilization is shown to exist in a system of two atomic levels coupled by a strong two-color laser field, the two frequencies of which are close to a two-photon Raman-type resonance between the chosen levels, with open channels of one-photon ionization from both of them. We suggest an experiment, in which a rather significant (up to $90%$) suppression of ionization can take place and which demonstrates explicitly the interference origin of stabilization. Specific calculations are made for H and He atoms and optimal parameters of a two-color field are found. The physics of the effect and its relation with such well-known phenomena as light induced continuum structure and population trapping in a three-level system are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.69.033404

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The effect of interference stabilization is shown to exist in a system of two atomic levels coupled by a strong two-color laser field, the two frequencies of which are close to a two-photon Raman-type resonance between the chosen levels, with open channels of one-photon ionization from both of them. We suggest an experiment, in which a rather significant (up to 9090%90) suppression of ionization can take place and which demonstrates explicitly the interference origin of stabilization. Specific calculations are made for H and He atoms and optimal parameters of a two-color field are found. The physics of the effect and its relation with such well-known phenomena as light induced continuum structure and population trapping in a three-level system are discussed.
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Interference stabilization of atoms is discussed. Raman-type transitions to Rydberg states with higher values of the electron orbital momentum l are taken into account in numerical calculations. These transitions are shown to change qualitatively theoretical predictions concerning the dependence of the time of ionization ti on the light field-strength amplitude (epsilon) 0: the time of ionization is shown to be a falling function of (epsilon) 0 in the weak-field region and, then, in a rather large interval of (epsilon) 0, to be approximately constant. The results derived are shown to be in a rather good agreement with the existing experiments.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
We report evidence of an interference process between two bound-free atomic transitions induced by laser fields. Sodium atoms, initially prepared in the 3P1/2{3\mathrm{P}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}3P1/2​ excited state, are ionized by a nonresonant 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 experiment has provided a fringe visibility as high as 42%.
Photoionization of highly excited atoms by a strong microwave field is considered. Secondary coherent population of some neighboring Rydberg levels in the process of ionization is shown to be a reason for interference of transitions from these levels to the continuum. Interference is shown to be a reason for some new effects: stabilization of the atom, suppression of its ionization, appearance of a multipeak structure in the photoelectron spectrum, field-induced narrowing of its peaks, narrowing and localization of quasi-energy atomic spectrum in a strong field, etc.
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