Abstract

If the lifetime of an autoionizing state is much shorter than the pulse length of the laser exciting it, then it is possible, with sufficient laser power, to ionize the entire atomic population. When the laser is tuned off resonance, it may still have sufficient power to ionize almost the entire population. The detuning at which the ionization efficiency will drop to 50% depends on the product of the laser pulse's energy density and the excited state's autoionizing rate.

© 1982 Optical Society of America