Abstract
Two laser pulses that overlap in time have been successfully used for coherent excitation of a molecule or atom to a desired state. An intermediate state that is at or near resonance with the laser frequencies has been used in past experiments and calculations. Here we replace this intermediate state by a continuum of intermediate states. An analytic solution of a simple model suggests that the continuum can be used in such an excitation scheme, provided that the laser pulses are arranged in the so-called counterintuitive order. We use a special case of this solution to relate this work to ionization suppression and coherent population trapping.
- Received 22 July 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.47.571
©1993 American Physical Society