Angular distribution of electrons from two-photon ionization of Ti atoms

Titanium atoms are excited by light from a nitrogen laser from the $a{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}F_4^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state, near the ground state, through the $x{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}G_5^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state, to become ${}_{}{}^4{}_{}{}^{}F$ ions plus free electrons. The angular distribution of photoelectrons from the process gives limits on the ratio of amplitudes for transitions from the intermediate $4p$ orbital to the final continuum $s$ and $d$ channels. The total number of photoelectrons indicates that the total ionization cross section for the ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}G_5^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state is 1×${10}^{-18\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^2$. While the method can, in principle, provide relaxation times for angular momentum reorientation (an application of the methods of perturbed angular correlations in atomic processes), the present measurements have been carried out under conditions in which no relaxation occurs.