Berlin 2001 – scientific programme

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MO: Molekülphysik

MO 14: Spektroscopy II

MO 14.9: Talk

Friday, April 6, 2001, 17:45–18:00, H1058

Laser-Induced Continuum Structure in Xenon and Metastable Helium — •Thomas Halfmann, Knut Böhmer, Leonid Yatsenko, and Klaas Bergmann — Fachbereich Physik, Universität Kaiserslautern, D-67663 Kaiserslautern

In recent years our understanding of how laser fields interact with a continuum has progressed substantially. In the LICS phenomenon, a strong laser field, connecting an unpopulated bound state to the continuum mixes bound-state character into the continuum. This laser-induced resonance can be detected by a second laser field which induces a transition from a populated bound state to the structured continuum. When multiple continua, i.e. different pathways of fragmentation processes, are excited, the different properties of each of the continua may lead to selective excitation and control of fragmentation branching ratios. We present experimental observations of LICS in Helium [1] as well as in the multiple continua of Xenon, corresponding to different energy levels of the Xenon ions. Unlike previous reports from other groups we observed pronounced continuum resonances in Xenon. While theoretical predictions yield good agreement with the experiment in Helium, this is not the case for Xenon. Implications and reasons for the discrepancy will be discussed.