We consider the interaction of atoms with a pulse of a linearly polarized
electric field consisting of two phase-locked frequencies whose ratio
ωH/ωL is the ratio of
arbitrary integers h/l, with h>l. If the electric amplitudes vary in time, they do so with the same slow envelope.
The relative phase can be used as a control parameter via variation of the phase
ϕH of
ωH or
ϕL of
ωL.
We derive the physically important ranges of relative phase for total-yield processes as a function of
h:l; they depend
on whether h,l
are both odd or only one is odd. We tabulate a variety of relevant phase-dependent results for all
h:l
from 2:1
through 8:7. We use calculations and experimental data for helium and hydrogen Rydberg atoms
driven by a bichromatic microwave field to confirm the physically important ranges of
ϕH and
ϕL for a
few h:l
ratios. Two experimental examples taken from the literature for the interactions of
atoms with sub-picosecond, bichromatic laser pulses also confirm our conclusions.
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