LASER-INDUCED STABILIZATION IN ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR-SYSTEMS

We present a short account of the recent progress in the study of a no vel strong-field phenomenon recently uncovered: atoms and molecules ma y be stabilized by intense laser fields. The laser-induced atomic and molecular stabilization arises from quite different origins. We presen t a complex-scaling Fourier-grid Hamiltonian method for the discretiza tion and solutior of the Schrodinger equation within the non-Hermitian Floquet Hamiltonian formalism. The method provides a simple, yet accu rate and highly efficient, new technique for the determination of the complex quasienergies (E(R), -Gamma/2) Of atoms and molecules. The rea l parts, E(R), provide the a.c. Stark shifts, and the imaginary parts, Gamma, give rise to multiphoton ionization rates of atoms or multipho ton dissociation rates of molecules. The method is applied to the stud ies of (i) stabilization and ionization suppression of negative ions i n high-frequency superintense laser fields; (ii) laser-induced molecul ar stabilization and chemical bond hardening in strong laser fields.