Two-color photoexcitation of Rydberg states via an electric quadrupole transition

Abstract

We report the observation of an electric quadrupole transition between the $4s^{\prime }{[1∕2]}_0^o$ and $3d{[3∕2]}_2^o$ states in the spectrum of argon and use it in the first step of a scheme to excite Rydberg states. The initial identification of the transition is based on one-color, two-photon photoionization. A different experiment utilizing two-color, two-photon photoexcitation to Rydberg states confirms the identification. Despite the unavoidable background of one-color, two-photon photoionization, the latter experimental technique makes possible two-photon spectroscopy of Rydberg states using a resonant intermediate state populated by an electric quadrupole transition.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

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