Angular momentum in multi-step photoionization

The effect of the angular momenta on the multi-step laser-ionization efficiency was investigated numerically for cases with and without the hyperfine interactions. For either cases the ionization efficiency proved to depend appreciably on the values of J in the excitation ladder. In this respect, we elaborated a simple and efficient method of determining J, which was based on the laser polarization dependence of the excitation rate. Application of this method to a couple of real excitation ladders proved its usefulness and reliability. (author)