Theory and experiment on laser-enabled inner-valence Auger decay of rare-gas atoms

Journal Article · Fri Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.013405· OSTI ID:22051316

Tong, X M ^[1]; Ranitovic, P; Hogle, C W; Murnane, M M; Kapteyn, H C ^[2]; Toshima, N ^[1]

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1. Institute of Materials Science, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan)
2. JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440 (United States)

In rare-gas atoms, an inner-valence shell ns hole cannot be filled by Auger decay because of an energy deficiency. We show theoretically and experimentally that by adding a moderately intense infrared laser, Auger decay is possible with decay rates increasing dramatically for laser intensities {>=}10{sup 13} W/cm{sup 2}. For Xe atoms, the simulated laser-enabled Auger decay yields are comparable with the experimental one, while for Ar atoms, the simulated ones are much smaller. We attribute the discrepancies to screening effects of the photoelectron. Laser-enabled Auger decay is of fundamental importance for understanding attosecond science, and is also important for experimental applications in ultrafast atomic, molecular, and materials dynamics using x rays. More importantly it may provide a way to control the Auger decay time and selectively break chemical bonds of molecules using a control infrared laser field.

• OSTI ID: 22051316
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 84; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ARGON
AUGER EFFECT
CHEMICAL BONDS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DECAY
HOLES
INFRARED RADIATION
LASERS
XENON