Decay of metastable H atoms in intense excimer lasers

Abstract
Decay widths of metastable hydrogen atoms subjected to the intense field of the currently available KrF* laser (λ=248 nm) and ArF* laser (λ=193 nm) are calculated by solving the full (3+1)-dimensional Schrödinger equation in the space-translated frame of reference. The critical intensities, above which the suppression of ionization decay sets in, are found to be Ic≃2.5×1014 and 7×1014 W/cm2 for λ=248 and 193 nm, respectively.