Eur. Phys. J. D 55, 53-56 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00231-5

Efficient atomization of cesium metal in solid helium by low energy (10 μJ) femtosecond pulses

Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS, UPMC-Paris 6, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France

Corresponding author: ^a dupont-r@lkb.ens.fr

Received: 6 February 2009
Revised: 11 June 2009
Published online: 15 August 2009

Abstract

Metal atoms in solid and liquid helium-4 have attracted some interest either as a way to keep the atoms in a weakly perturbing matrix, or using them as a probe for the helium host medium. Laser sputtering with nanosecond pulsed lasers is the most often used method for atom production, resulting however in a substantial perturbation of the matrix. We show that a much weaker perturbation can be obtained by using femtosecond laser pulses with energy as low as 10 μJ. As an unexpected benefit, the atomic density produced is much higher.