Dynamic stabilization of Na atom in an intense pulsed laser field**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11465016, 11664035, and 11764038).

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the ionization properties of the valence electron for the alkali metal atom Na in an intense pulsed laser field by solving numerically the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with an accurate l-dependent model potential. By calculating the variations of the ionization probabilities with laser peak intensity for wavelengths ranging from 200 nm to 600 nm, our results present a dynamic stabilization trend for the Na atom initially in its ground state (3s) and the excited states (3p and 4s) exposed to an intense pulsed laser field. Especially a clear “window” of dynamic stabilization at lower laser intensities and longer wavelengths for the initial state 4s (the second excited state) is found. By analyzing the time-dependent population distributions of the valence electron in the bound states with the different values of principal quantum number n and orbital quantum number l, we can attribute the dynamic stabilization to the periodic population in the low-excited states since the valence electron oscillates rapidly between the lowly excited states and the continuum states.