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VUV Spectroscopy of Atoms, Molecules and Surfaces

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142 Chapter 6. Two-colour pump-probe experiments on He ...<br />

tion <strong>and</strong> Stark broadening <strong>of</strong> the 1s2p level. This effect was found to have no<br />

influence on the value <strong>of</strong> the lifetime measured but led to a reduced ion-signal<br />

level <strong>and</strong> should thus be avoided by working at low pressures.<br />

An attempt was made to determine relative partial cross sections for<br />

ionization <strong>of</strong> the 1s2p level by measuring the ion signal as a function <strong>of</strong> the<br />

angle between the pump- <strong>and</strong> probe polarization vectors. The uncertainty on<br />

the data was, however, too large <strong>and</strong> the cross-section values to be deduced<br />

too sensitive to the scatter among the data points that quantitative results<br />

could be obtained. This situation might be improved by a more careful<br />

alignment <strong>of</strong> the setup <strong>and</strong> by minimizing <strong>and</strong> taking more carefully into<br />

account the fluctuations (on the order <strong>of</strong> 10–15 %) <strong>and</strong> drifts in laser-pulse<br />

energies.<br />

The two-colour pump-probe technique has only been used for a limited<br />

number <strong>of</strong> experiments <strong>of</strong> the kind described above but could easily be applied<br />

for studies <strong>of</strong> many other systems. Also, the method should be considered<br />

a serious alternative to the pump-probe technique using synchronized laser<strong>and</strong><br />

synchrotron radiation pulses which has been applied for studies <strong>of</strong> resonances<br />

<strong>and</strong> many-body effects in atoms [60, 61, 62, 63]. In this respect the<br />

present method has the advantages <strong>of</strong> inherent synchronization <strong>of</strong> the pumpwith<br />

the probe, a simplified setup <strong>and</strong> a competitive b<strong>and</strong>width—at least<br />

in the

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