Anisotropic emission in quantum-beat spectroscopy of helium excited states

Abstract

We present quantum-beat spectroscopy of excited states of helium atoms populated selectively with high-order-harmonic emission below the atomic ionization potential by means of low-pass filtering of the pump radiation. The created electron wave packet is ionized by few-cycle infrared (IR) pulses leading to characteristic peaks in the photoelectron yield, which beat with a frequency proportional to the energy gap between the states involved in the two-color photoionization process. Minimizing the direct ionization by the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation, we can follow the evolution of the electron wave packet also in the region of temporal pump-probe overlap. A detailed time-frequency analysis of the quantum beats and direct comparison with the solution of the time-dependent Schr\odinger equation reveal the existence of quantum beats characterized by a final state of mixed parity. Finally, we show that by varying the carrier-envelope offset phase of the probe pulse, one can optically control the preferred direction of photoelectron emission and the contrast of such beats.