Spatially Resolved Inter-electron Interaction of Autoionising States

Abstract

We have observed transitions to autoionising states in Mg using two short optical pulses. Mg atoms are initially prepared in a high lying Rydberg wave packet with the first picosecond (ps) laser. A second ps laser is then used to excite the inner electron, producing an autoionising state. The dependence of the transition probability on the delay between the two lasers shows that when the second laser is tuned away from the ionic resonance, the inner electron can make a transition only when the Rydberg wave packet is near the core.