Frankfurt 2006 – scientific programme
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Q: Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 29: Poster Quanteneffekte
Q 29.4: Poster
Tuesday, March 14, 2006, 16:30–18:30, Labsaal
Coherent Population Transfer via the Ionization Continuum in Helium — •Thorsten Peters1, Leonid P. Yatsenko1,2, and Thomas Halfmann1 — 1Fachbereich Physik, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany — 2Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, prospect Nauki 46, Kiev-39, 03650, Ukraine
Coherent population transfer in a Λ-type level scheme using two delayed laser pulses in counter-intuitive pulse sequence (STIRAP configuration) is a well established tool to manipulate population distributions in systems of bound quantum states. It has been proposed theoretically that STIRAP should also work involving a continuum as intermediate state, since the transfer efficiency does not depend on losses from the intermediate state. However, STIRAP via a continuum was never investigated experimentally. Here we present the successful experimental implementation of coherent population transfer, i.e. STIRAP, via a continuum [1]. Population is selectively driven from the metastable state 2s 1S0 in Helium via the ionization continuum to the target state 4s 1S0 by a STIRAP-like sequence of laser pulses. The experimental results are being compared with numerical simulations with respect to transfer vs. pulse delay.
[1] T. Peters, L.P. Yatsenko, and T. Halfmann, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 103601/1-4 (2005)