Two-photon excitation and absorption spectroscopy of gaseous and supercritical xenon

Abstract

Spectroscopy of gases under high-pressure conditions is of interest in various fields such as plasma physics and astrophysics. Recently, it has also been proposed to utilize a high-pressure noble gas environment as a thermalization medium to extend the wavelength range of photon Bose-Einstein condensates to the vacuum-ultraviolet regime, from the presently accessible visible and near-infrared spectral regimes. In this work, we report on experimental results of two-photon spectroscopy of gaseous and supercritical xenon for pressures as high as $95 \; \text{bar}$, probing the transitions from the $5p^6$ electronic ground-state to the $5p^56p$ and $5p^56p^\prime$ excited-state configurations. Aiming at the exploration of possible pumping schemes for future vacuum-ultraviolet photon condensates, we have recorded degenerate two-photon excitation spectra of such dense xenon samples. In further measurements, we have investigated whether irradiation of an auxiliary light field can enhance the reabsorption of the emission on the second excimer continuum of xenon, which is subject to a large Stokes shift. To this end, absorption measurements have been conducted, driving the $5p^6 \rightarrow 5p^56p$ two-photon transitions nondegenerately.