Two-color pump-probe experiments in helium using high-order harmonics
A pump-probe technique has been applied for measuring the lifetimes and absolute photoionization cross-sections of excited He states. The 1s2p P-1 and 1s3p P-1 states of He are excited by using the 13th and the 14th harmonic, respectively, of a tunable 70 ps dye laser generated in a Kr gas jet. The states are ionized after a varying time delay, by absorption of probe photons with energies between