Abstract
The large collective resonance of the spherical cluster has been studied using a femtosecond laser, which directly excites the resonance. Photofragment size and charge distributions have been measured. A large intensity of doubly and triply charged fragments has been observed, which is absent when applying nanosecond laser pulses of the same wavelength and pulse energy. The efficient ionization processes can be understood as autoionization of the multiply excited collective resonance. A simple rate model gives an estimate of about 10 fs for the lifetime of the resonance.
- Received 19 September 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.1194
©1998 American Physical Society