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The dynamics of a one-dimensional atom driven by three-laser fields is investigated. The total electric field is made up of a fundamental laser field of intensity W cm−2 and wavelength λ = 820 nm and two weak lasers with larger wavelengths. The intensity of the two weak fields is with k = 0.25. The frequencies of the weak fields are and , with and . The three lasers have a Gaussian envelope of 72 fs FWHM. It is shown, by numerical computation and using the semiclassical theory of high-harmonic generation, that the atom interacting with this combined field is able to emit an isolated attosecond burst of radiation.

The radiation diffused by a one-dimensional homonuclear molecular ion driven by a laser field is studied as a function of the time. When the photon energy is resonant with the energy gap between the ground and the first excited state, the electronic probability density is seen to undergo slow and deep oscillations between the two nuclei. Synchronous to such oscillations, deep modulations of the emitted power are observed. The period of oscillation is of the order of 10 optical cycles. Detection of the variation in the intensity of the emitted electromagnetic spectrum therefore brings information on the position of the electron in the molecule.

Accurate numerical calculations are carried out to investigate the validity of the two-state approximation in the case of resonant interactions between electromagnetic radiation and atoms . Short pulses are considered and the presence of the atomic spectrum is modelled by introducing a third, nonresonant, state . We show that the harmonics of the pulse profile may play a significant role in the dynamics of the process and may cause energy nonconserving transitions between the atomic states. © 1990 Taylor & Francis Ltd.