Abstract

By frequency mixing in rare gases it is now possible to generate tunable coherent radiation in the entire wavelength region from 105 nm to 200 nm¹. This techniques will thus open the way for many applications of tunable VUV radiation to physical and photochemical problems. In this contribution we want to report on results of the excitation of atomic hydrogen in an atomic beam. The tunable VUV radiation excited the 1 ²S_1/2-- 2 ²P Lyman - _α transition, and a second tunable UV laser served to excite the (2 ²P) - H atoms further to high Rydberg states or the ionization continuum. Preliminary results together with a detailed description of the apparatus has been published^2,3.

© 1982 Optical Society of America