Zeeman Effect Induced by Intense Laser Light

We analyze spectral line shapes of hydrogenlike species subjected to fields of electromagnetic waves. It is shown that the magnetic component of an electromagnetic wave may significantly influence the spectra. In particular, the Zeeman effect induced by a visible or infrared light can be experimentally observed using present-day powerful lasers. In addition, the effect may be used for diagnostics of focused beam intensities achieved at existing and newly built laser facilities.

Figure 1

Combined static Stark-Zeeman effect of Kr xxxvi $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ in the perpendicular electric and magnetic fields. The $\sigma$ and $\pi$ polarization components are given separately. For comparison, zero-field and electric-field-only spectra are also shown. $F_z=30\mathrm{TV}/\mathrm{m}$ and $B_x=100\mathrm{kT}$ are assumed. Zero on the energy axis corresponds to the Kr xxxvi $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ unperturbed energy of $\approx 13.5\mathrm{keV}$ [11].

Figure 2

(a) Combined Stark-Zeeman effect of Kr xxxvi $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ in the EM field of a linearly polarized light with intensity $10^{20}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ and angular frequency $\mathrm{\Omega }=2\times 10^{15}\mathrm{rad}/\mathrm{s}$ ($\lambda \approx 0.94\mu \mathrm{m}$), averaged over all directions of observation. (b) Same after convolution with a 4-eV FWHM Gaussian and shown separately for directions of observation parallel to $\overrightarrow{F}$ or $\overrightarrow{B}$ of the laser field.

Figure 3

Combined Stark-Zeeman effect of Kr xxxvi $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ in the EM field of a linearly polarized light of varying intensity. The direction of observation is parallel to the polarization vector. The spectra are convolved with a 4-eV FWHM Gaussian.

Figure 4

Criteria and regions of observability of the Zeeman effect on $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ of species with the atomic number $Z$ in the EM field with intensity $I$ (see the text).

Figure 5

Modeling of the Kr xxxvi $\mathrm{Ly}\text{−}\alpha$ spectrum collected over a 1-ps exposure and subjected to an EM field of a linearly polarized laser with a 100-fs Gaussian envelope (shown in the inset). The direction of observation is parallel to the polarization vector. For clarity, a $\times 10$ enlarged spectrum is shown by the dashed line.