High Intensity Laser-Atom and Molecule Interactions

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A program of experimental research is directed to the study of atomic and molecular processes in intense short-pulsed radiation fields produced by multi-gigawatt pulsed lasers with durations of 150 fsec to 100 psec. Objectives include: (1) examination of the role of coherence in above-threshold ionization (ATI), by utilizing novel 2-color radiation fields where the phases of the two colors are locked together, and by creating very wide bandwidth chirped pulses for ionization studies; (2) an attempt to observe and study novel laser-induced molecular bound states, formed and stabilized by the intense laser field (existence of such states was suggested by the recent discovery of bond-softening, or above-threshold dissociation, in intense laser-molecule interactions); and (3) a study of the interaction of atoms with single cycles of infrared optical radiation, using recently developed technology to produce and control coherent radiation pulses consisting of a single optical cycle.