J.E. Thoma and R.R. Jones
Abstract:Femtosecond laser pulses have been used to promote calcium atoms in stationary 4snd Rydberg levels to superpositions of 4pnd autoionizing states. The rapid excitation of the 4s core electron generates a "shock-wavepacket" that propagates through the previously stationary Rydberg wavefunction. The non-exponential decay of the autoionizing wavepacket is probed using a second isolated-core excitation (ICE) from the 4pnd to 4dnd autoionizing series. Our measurements are in good agreement with the predictions of time-dependent multi-channel quantum defect theory (MQDT).
Status: Published, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 516 (1999) Download this Paper