Associative ionization of two laser excited Na atoms

An investigation into the associative ionization of two sodium atoms excited by polarized laser beams is described. It was possible to excite the Na atoms in a velocity-selective way by exploiting the Doppler effect. The excitation of Na to the 32P3/2, F=3 level is discussed on the basis of so-called saturation curves. Experiments with seven different combinations of polarization of the two exciting laser beams are described and the results discussed. 86 refs.; 53 figs.; 6 tabs