title: Observation of multiphoton-laser-induced collisions.
abstract: The first known observation of a multiphoton-laser-induced inelastic collision is reported. During the collision of Ba and Tl ground-state atoms, two photons are absorbed, resulting in the simultaneous excitation of both atoms to excited states. The collisional absorption was maximized when the photon sum energy was equal to the sum energy of the excited atoms for infinite separation.
authors.affiliation: Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: White