Atomic phenomena in bichromatic laser fields

We present a review of work that has been done during the last 10 years on atomic scattering and reaction processes in bichromatic laser fields, Of pa rticular interest will be the case where the field is composed of two compo nents of commensurate frequencies, usually consisting of a fundamental comp onent omega and one of its low harmonics 2 omega or 3 omega, These two comp onents are in general out of phase by an angle phi, The above processes are then investigated as a function of the relative phase cp. This procedure w as termed the coherent phase control (CPC) of the atomic process considered . The idea was originally born in molecular physics as a possible means to manipulate molecular reactions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.