title: Autler-Townes splitting in the multiphoton resonance ionization spectrum of molecules produced by ultrashort laser pulses.
abstract: We report for the first time the proper conditions to observe Autler-Townes splitting (ac-Stark splitting) from vibrationally coherent states belonging to the different electronic terms of a diatomic molecule. Wave packet dynamics simulations demonstrate that such a process is feasible by multiphoton resonance ionization of the molecule Na2 with a single ultrashort intense laser pulse. With the ultrahigh time resolution of a femtosecond laser pulse, one can directly measure the absolute value of the transition dipole moment between any kinds of molecular states by this kind of Autler-Townes splitting, which is a function of the internuclear distance R.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Nanquan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lou