Coherent Control of Penning and Associative Ionization: Insights from Symmetries

Abstract

Coherent control of reactive atomic and molecular collision processes remains elusive experimentally due to quantum interference-based requirements. Here, with insights from symmetry conditions, a viable method for controlling Penning and Associative ionization in atomic collisions is proposed. Computational applications to He${}^{\ast }({}^3\text{S})$-Li(${}^2\text{S}$) and Ne${}^{\ast }{(}^3{\text{P}}_2$)-Ar(${}^1{\text{S}}_0$) show extensive control over the ionization processes under experimentally feasible conditions.

5 pages, 1 figure