Population transfer through the continuum using laser-controlled Stark shifts

We show, through analysis and numerical modeling of hydrogen and sodium, that it should be possible to transfer atomic population, with high probability, using a delayed-pulse two-photon Raman transition in which intermediate states are in the ionization continuum. We propose using auxiliary laser pulses to overcome dynamic Stark shifts that would otherwise prevent population transfer. We find that, even without such auxiliary pulses, population transfer can be improved by tuning the carrier frequencies away from the two-photon Raman resonance condition. Our computations for hydrogen predict nearly 85 percent population transfer.