Inelastic Collision Induced by Intense Optical Radiation

Abstract

A large cross section for inelastic collision is induced by an incident laser tuned to the frequency of the interatomic energy defect. We study energy transfer from the Sr $5p^{1}P^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ level to the Ca $4d^{1}D$ level and measure a cross section for inelastic collision of 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ at a laser power density of 8.6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{6}$ W/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ and a wavelength of 6409.0 \AA{}.