Lifetime control in Rydberg states. An application to the autoionizing series below the P-2(1/2) ionization limit of xenon

The external electric field switching technique is applied to the autoioniz ing Rydberg states of xenon which produces highly stable long-lived ZEKE st ates. The experiment illustrates that the enhancement process occurs via an externally induced l-locking mechanism with additional background perturba tions of the l-locked states. The enhancement for this atomic system is obs erved in the absence of channel interactions. Still, even in this worst cas e, ZEKE states are readily produced. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.