Resonant photoionization dynamics during optical trapping of lithium atoms
Abstract
Photoionization induced by trapping and auxiliary laser fields is an inherent feature of many laser-cooling and optical trapping experiments, yet its microscopic dynamics are rarely investigated directly. In this work, we employ a reaction microscope implementing an event-by-event photoionization time retrieval technique to extend momentum-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to continuous-wave laser--atom interactions. We investigate low-intensity multicolor photoionization of laser-cooled lithium atoms confined in an all-optical trap. Complete three-dimensional electron momentum distributions and kinetic-energy spectra recorded for different laser wavelengths and polarization configurations identify resonant excitation of the 5p and 5f states and reveal an additional ionization channel following spontaneous decay from the 5f to the 4d state. A pronounced polarization dependence of the photoionization yield is explained by magnetic-sublevel selection rules and the coherent interference of different virtual excitation pathways. These results demonstrate that reaction microscopy combined with event-by-event time reconstruction provides a powerful approach for investigating microscopic electronic dynamics in laser-cooled atomic systems and offers new insight into photoionization processes occurring during optical trapping.
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BibTeX
@misc{foster2026resonant,
title = {{Resonant photoionization dynamics during optical trapping of lithium atoms}},
author = {K. Foster and S. Majumdar and D. Fischer},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.09549},
eprint = {2608.09549},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09549},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Resonant photoionization dynamics during optical trapping of lithium atoms
AU - K. Foster
AU - S. Majumdar
AU - D. Fischer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.09549
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09549
AB - Photoionization induced by trapping and auxiliary laser fields is an inherent feature of many laser-cooling and optical trapping experiments, yet its microscopic dynamics are rarely investigated directly. In this work, we employ a reaction microscope implementing an event-by-event photoionization time retrieval technique to extend momentum-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to continuous-wave laser--atom interactions. We investigate low-intensity multicolor photoionization of laser-cooled lithium atoms confined in an all-optical trap. Complete three-dimensional electron momentum distributions and kinetic-energy spectra recorded for different laser wavelengths and polarization configurations identify resonant excitation of the 5p and 5f states and reveal an additional ionization channel following spontaneous decay from the 5f to the 4d state. A pronounced polarization dependence of the photoionization yield is explained by magnetic-sublevel selection rules and the coherent interference of different virtual excitation pathways. These results demonstrate that reaction microscopy combined with event-by-event time reconstruction provides a powerful approach for investigating microscopic electronic dynamics in laser-cooled atomic systems and offers new insight into photoionization processes occurring during optical trapping.
ER -