Diabatic field ionisation of highly excited indium atoms

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Abstract
The phenomenon of diabatic ionisation of indium Rydberg atoms by an external electric field has been investigated. The indium atoms are excited in an atomic beam apparatus to high lying p states by stepwise laser excitation. The authors have studied the dependence of the ionisation processes on the slew rate of the applied electric field. The observation of a new diabatic ionisation feature for high slew rates is reported and an explanation is presented. Consequences for the ionisation efficiency are mentioned.