Two-path interference in resonance-enhanced few-photon ionization of Li atoms

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Acharya, BP
Dubey, S
Romans, KL
Silva, AHNC De
Foster, K
Russ, O
Bartschat, K
Douguet, N
Fischer, D
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2022
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Abstract

We investigate the resonance-enhanced few-photon ionization of atomic lithium by linearly polarized light whose frequency is tuned near the 2s-2p transition. Considering the direction of light polarization orthogonal to the quantization axis, the process can be viewed as an atomic "double-slit experiment"where the 2p states with magnetic quantum numbers mℓ=±1 act as the slits. In our experiment, we can virtually close one of the two slits by preparing lithium in one of the two circularly polarized 2p states before subjecting it to the ionizing radiation. This allows us to extract the interference term between the two pathways and obtain complex phase information on the final state. The experimental results show very good agreement with numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The validity of the two-slit model is also analyzed theoretically using a time-dependent perturbative approach.

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Physical Review A

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106

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2

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© 2022 American Physical Society. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.

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Atomic and molecular physics

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Physical Sciences

Optics

Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical

Physics

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Acharya, BP; Dubey, S; Romans, KL; Silva, AHNCD; Foster, K; Russ, O; Bartschat, K; Douguet, N; Fischer, D, Two-path interference in resonance-enhanced few-photon ionization of Li atoms, Physical Review A, 2022, 106 (2), pp. 023113

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