Experimental study of linear magnetic dichroism in photoionization satellite transitions of atomic rubidium

Abstract

Laser orientation in the initial state has been used to study the properties of satellite transitions in inner-shell photoionization of rubidium atoms. The linear magnetic dichroism in the angular distribution (LMDAD) has been utilized to probe the continuum waves of orbital angular momentum conserving monopole, and angular momentum changing conjugate satellites, accompanying the $4p$ ionization of atomic Rb. We show experimentally that LMDAD of both types of satellite transitions is nonzero and that LMDAD of monopole satellites, measured as a function of photon energy, mimics the LMDAD of direct photoionization, whereas the LMDAD of conjugate transitions deviates drastically from that trend. The results indicate that conjugate transitions cannot be described theoretically without explicit inclusion of electron-electron interaction. The present data can thus be used as a very precise test of current models for photoionization.