Two-Photon Ionization of Atomic Hydrogen. II

Abstract

This paper contains a generalization of results described in previous work. A general formula is given for the total cross section for two-photon ionization of a hydrogenic state. An implicit method for evaluating the second-order radial matrix elements that occur in this expression is described in detail. Numerical results were obtained for the states with principal quantum numbers n = 1 through 5. It is concluded that, when both one-photon and two-photon ionization are energetically possible, the effect of the latter may be expressed as an intensity-dependent correction to the Gaunt factor which may therefore be written as G = g1 + ζIλ3g2. Here g1 is the usual Gaunt factor, I is the intensity of the light in W cm−2, λ is the wavelength in cm, g2 is a dimensionless factor of order unity, and ζ is a constant given by ζ = 0.1504 W−1 cm−1. Graphs of g2 are given as a function of electron energy. These results do not include the effect of three-photon processes, which can also contribute to the first-order intensity-dependent correction to the Gaunt factor as a result of interference between the first- and third-order amplitudes.