Helium atom in presence of DC and AC electric fields

Abstract

We investigate the effect of a static electric field on photoionization of the He atom in the ground IS and low-lying 2S and 2P excited states. The field-affected ionization potential and photoionization crosssection are determined from the complex eigenvalues of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation solved by the complex rotation method in the Floquet ansatz. Accuracy of the method is enhanced by the use of the Hylleraas basis set. For the ground state of helium, we find that the total photoionization cross-section remains constant or decreases as a function of the DC field strength until this field reaches a certain critical value. For the low-lying excited states, effect of the static field is similar to the ordinary DC Stark effect.