Abstract

It is now well established that laser fields can induce atomic coherence even through or in an atomic continuum. This coherence may result in enhancement or inhibition of the decay in the continuum, which traditionally was considered to behave as a dissipative sink. Among several phenomena based on electromagnetically induced atomic coherence. Laser Induced Continuum Structure (LICS) has received the attention of the scientific community in recent years. A particular case of LICS is based on the coupling of an autoionizing state (AIS) to another one or to a smooth continuum) [1]. This leads to a drastic modification of the ionization dynamics of the atomic system. The modification is achieved through the strong electromagnetic coupling of the state to a lower-lying autoionizing resonance or continuum state by means of coherent laser radiation and is probed from the ground state through a second electromagnetic field. The feasibility of coherent excitation and control of the properties of the atomic continua far above the threshold open applications in various domains such as strong field interactions and short wavelength generation.

© 1998 IEEE