Wavepacket interferometry with chirped pulses

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of wavepacket inte rferences created with a combination of two coherent ultrashort laser pulse s: a chirped pulse and a Fourier-transform-limited pulse. We show that when the central wavelength of the pulse sequence is scanned, different behavio ur is observed between the optical interference regime (pulse overlap in ti me) and the quantum interference regime (no pulse overlap). The theoretical analysis of the process is given together with experimental results in the (4s-4p) one-photon transition in potassium atoms.