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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Ionization Of Rydberg Wave Packets By Subpicosecond, Half-Cycle Electromagnetic Pulses, C. Raman, C. W. S. Conover, C. I. Sukenik, P. H. Bucksbaum Apr 1996

Ionization Of Rydberg Wave Packets By Subpicosecond, Half-Cycle Electromagnetic Pulses, C. Raman, C. W. S. Conover, C. I. Sukenik, P. H. Bucksbaum

Physics Faculty Publications

We have studied the ionization of Rydberg wave packets by subpicosecond, nearly unipolar electromagnetic field pulses, in the regime where the duration of the electric field is less than the classical Kepler orbit time 2n3 for the wave packet. In contrast to the subpicosecond optical pulses, subpicosecond field pulses can ionize wave packets when the probability density near the inner turning point of the Kepler orbit is low. The transfer of energy from the electromagnetic field to essentially free electrons demonstrates that the pulses are substantially shorter than one field cycle. Such half-cycle pulses can track the wave packet throughout …


Spectroscopy Of Atoms Confined To The Single Node Of A Standing Wave In A Parallel-Plate Cavity, V. Sandoghar, C. I. Sukenik, S. Haroche, E. A. Hinds Mar 1996

Spectroscopy Of Atoms Confined To The Single Node Of A Standing Wave In A Parallel-Plate Cavity, V. Sandoghar, C. I. Sukenik, S. Haroche, E. A. Hinds

Physics Faculty Publications

We have performed spectroscopy on sodium atoms that are optically channeled in the single node of a laser standing wave set up across a parallel-plate cavity. Using this technique we have extended our previous measurement of the Lennard-Jones van der Waals energy-level shift [Sandoghdar et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 3432 (1992)] down to a cavity width of ~500 nm. We discuss the applications of this technique to the precise measurement of atom-surface distances.