Resonant Vacuum-Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectra of Aligned Li Atoms

A new method is described in which Li atoms are excited and aligned by pumping of the Li 1s²2s²S1/2→1s²2p²P1/2,3/2 transitions with a linearly polarized dye-laser beam, and subsequently raised to core-excited 1snln^'l^'²S, ²P, ²D states by linearly polarized synchrotron radiation. The intensity of the electrons ejected upon the Li 1snln^'l^'²S, ²D→1s²¹S₀εl autoionization strongly varied with the character of the core-excited state, the intermediate ²P1/2 or ²P3/2 state, and the angle between the polarization vectors of the two photon beams.