Structures induced by laser in degenerate continua for the coherent control of ionization branching ratios

We study a photoionization process where the branching ratio of the photoproducts is actively modulated by the presence of laser induced continuum structures in a two continua model. This extension is suitable for an analysis of different coherent control processes in degenerate continua such as photoionization in atoms and molecules or photodissociation in molecules. The peculiar characteristics of this control scheme, already used in recent experiments, are analysed for different regimes of intensity of the lasers. A comparison with other schemes of coherent control is also presented. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.