A spectroscopic investigation of the ionisation and dissociation decay dynamics of Rydberg states of NO

Minns, Russell S.; Lazenby, D.T.C.; Hall, Felix H. J.; Jones, N J A; Patel, Rupal; Fielding, Helen H.

doi:10.1080/00268976.2013.865809

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Recently, we have reported on the lifetime of such states measured by electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy [7]. It has been demonstrated that electronically excited states play an important role in strong field phenomena, including ionization and molecular dissociation [8,9], electron wave packet interference, and high harmonic generation [10][11][12][13]. Many strong field phenomena in atoms and molecules are governed by electronic dynamics that are not only sensitive to the laser intensity but also to the waveform of the laser field [14].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Localizing high-lying Rydberg wave packets with two-color laser fields

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We demonstrate control over the localization of high-lying Rydberg wave packets in argon atoms with phase-locked orthogonally polarized two-color (OTC) laser fields. With a reaction microscope, we measured ionization signals of high-lying Rydberg states induced by a weak dc field and blackbody radiation as a function of the relative phase between the two-color fields. We find that the dc-field ionization yields of high-lying Rydberg argon atoms oscillate with the relative two-color phase with a period of 2π while the photoionization signal by black-body radiation shows a period of π. These observations are a clear signature of the asymmetric localization of electrons recaptured into high-lying Rydberg states after conclusion of the laser pulse and are supported by a semiclassical simulation of argon-OTC laser interaction. Our findings thus open an effective pathway to control the localization of high-lying Rydberg wave packets.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Localizing high-lying Rydberg wave packets with two-color laser fields

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Formation and destruction of such mesoscopic objects can be described by semiclassical and classical methods [5]. Recent experiments on high harmonic generation and electron wave packet interferometry indicate the important contribution of such excited states to different processes [6][7][8][9][10] including ionization and molecular dissociation processes [11][12][13][14]. However, detailed and quantitative information on the FFI following the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with atoms and molecules appears to be scarce.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coincidence spectroscopy of high-lying Rydberg states produced in strong laser fields

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report on the measurement of electron emission after the interaction of strong laser pulses with atoms and molecules. These electrons originate from high-lying Rydberg states with quantum numbers up to n 120 formed by frustrated field ionization. Simulations show that both tunneling ionization by a weak dc field and photoionization by the black-body radiation contribute to delayed electron emission on the nano-to microsecond scale. We measured ionization rates from these Rydberg states by coincidence spectroscopy. Further, the dependence of the Rydberg-state production on the ellipticity of the driving laser field proves that such high-lying Rydberg states are populated through electron recapture. The present experiment provides detailed quantitative information on Rydberg production by frustrated field ionization.PACS numbers: 32.80. Rm, 32.80.Fb, 42.50.Hz Ionization of atoms and molecules by strong laser fields is the starting point for a multitude of interesting phenomena, e.g., high harmonic generation or molecular fragmentation [1]. For sufficiently strong laser fields corresponding to intensities of the order of I ≈ 10 14 W/cm 2 , atoms and molecules are ionized via tunneling ionization, i.e., an electron passes through the potential barrier of the combined Coulomb and laser fields. After tunneling, electrons are steered by the laser field and most of them will eventually escape the Coulomb field of the remaining ion core. However, a fraction of them are recaptured into highly excited states by the ionic Coulomb field. This process frequently referred to frustrated field ionization (FFI) [2,3] leads to the formation of high-lying Rydberg states with binding energies extending from a fraction of an eV to values of µeV near threshold.Very high-lying Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers n ≈ 100 are quantum objects of macroscopic size allowing for studies of the border between the quantum and the classical worlds [4]. Formation and destruction of such mesoscopic objects can be described by semiclassical and classical methods [5]. Recent experiments on high harmonic generation and electron wave packet interferometry indicate the important contribution of such excited states to different processes [6][7][8][9][10] including ionization and molecular dissociation processes [11][12][13][14]. However, detailed and quantitative information on the FFI following the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with atoms and molecules appears to be scarce.To explore the production process and the properties of high-lying Rydberg states formed in the strong field interaction with atoms and molecules, direct observation of such states is required. Traditionally, zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to study weakly bound states in atoms and molecules [15]. In case of strong field interaction, however, the ionization signal from Rydberg states is completely overshadowed by the dominant laser field-induced ionization signal from the target and the residual gas in the interaction chamber. There...

show abstract

“…44 Studies have been reported previously of the Δ v + ≠ 0 vibrational channel interactions in NO between Rydberg states in series converging to the v + = 1 series limit, and the v + = 0 continuum that give rise to autoionisation. 44,78 In the case of interest here these same vibrational channel interactions are seen to persist between states with v + = 0 and v + = 1 below both series limits.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%