Resonant Energy Transfer, with Creation of Hyper-Excited Atoms, and Molecular Auto-Ionization in a Cold Rydberg Gas

A cold Rydberg gas, with its atoms prepared initially all in the excited state |n0> , with n0 »1, contains an excessive amount of energy, and presumably is to relax by the Penning-type molecular auto-ionization (MAI), in which a portion of excess energy of one atom is given to another near-by atom and ionizing it. Its complementary process, the resonant energy transfer (RET), is discussed, in which the excess energy of one atom is used on another to form a hyper-excited atomic state |na> with na»n0. This process is always present, provided certain resonance energy conditions are satisfied. In this report, the n0 and density dependences of the RET rates are studied in detail, employing a simple model: 1) at low densities, the RET is mediated by the dipole-dipole coupling Vdd and its rates are generally much smaller than that of MAI, especially for small n0. But 2) as the density increases, our model shows that the rates become of comparable magnitude or even larger than the MAI rates. The Vdd is no longer adequate. We, then construct a semi-empirical potential to describe the RET process. 3) At high densities, we show that the atomic orbital of |na> overlaps with that of neighboring atoms, and the electron-electron potential becomes prominent, resulting in much higher rates.

Branching ratio and angular distribution of ejected electrons from Eu 4f^76p_(1/2)nd auto-ionizing states

The branching ratios of ions and the angular distributions of electrons ejected from the Eu 4f^76p_（1/2）nd auto-ionizing states are investigated with the velocity-map-imaging technique.To populate the above auto-ionizing states,the relevant bound Rydberg states have to be detected first.Two new bound Rydberg states are identified in the region between41150 cm^（-1）and 44580 cm^（-1）,from which auto-ionization spectra of the Eu 4f^76p_（1/2）nd states are observed with isolated core excitation method.With all preparations above,the branching ratios from the above auto-ionizing states to different final ionic states and the angular distributions of electrons ejected from these processes are measured systematically.Energy dependence of branching ratios and anisotropy parameters within the auto-ionization spectra are carefully analyzed,followed by a qualitative interpretation.

Time-dependent wave packet approach to the pulse delay effect upon RbI photoelectron spectrum

The time-resolved photoelectron spectrum (TRPES) of Rbl molecule is simulatedusing the time-dependent wave-packet method. Both the normal three-photon ionization process andauto-ionization process are involved in the simulation. The calculated results show that the changeof delay time will influence the shape of the photoelectron spectrum (PES), and the influence issubstantially due to the existence of the crossing between excited states and the strong laser fieldwhich will change the position of relevant curves.