Interference narrowing at crossings of sodium Stark resonances

Abstract

We have observed a striking line narrowing in the photoionization spectrum of sodium atoms in an electric field. At crossings of two relatively broad resonances, one of them is narrowed by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude as a result of interference between the discrete and continuum coupling amplitudes that mediate their ionization. The observations agree quantitatively with WKB quantum-defect Stark theory and also with a simpler model involving two discrete states and two continua.