Three-Photon Ionization with One-Photon Resonance between Excited Levels

Within the framework of a three-level model, the process of three-photon ionization with one-photon resonance between two excited levels (with the lower one being initially unpopulated) is considered using the density matrix method. It is shown that such resonance can result in the appearance of a maximum in the three-photon ionization spectrum when detuning between the resonance wavenumber and the wavenumber of the transition responsible for the lower excited level being populated exceeds the laser radiation linewidth by more than three orders of magnitude.