Eur. Phys. J. D 23, 35-42 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2003-00021-1

Investigation of auto-ionizing states in xenon by resonantly enhanced multi-photon ionization

Fachbereich Physik der Universität, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a halfmann@physik.uni-kl.de

Received: 30 September 2002
Published online: 28 January 2003

Abstract

We have examined the autoionization spectrum of xenon by resonantly enhanced three-photon ionization (2+1 REMPI) involving intermediate states . The properties of the observed autoionization resonances change significantly with the choice of the intermediate state. For ionization via an intermediate state with predominantly P core character, a strong continuum with embedded window-type P-autoionization resonances is observed. For intermediate states, predominantly with P core character, both P- as well as P-resonances are present in the spectrum as overlapping, nearly symmetric peaks on a rather weak continuum. Calculations confirm the significant dependence of the spectral lineshapes upon the excitation pathway to the autoionizing state. The ionization data are compared with spectra obtained by monitoring third-harmonic generation via autoionizing states without resonant excitation of intermediate states. These spectra also exhibit the signature of both the nd'- and ns'-resonances.