The ionisation of Rydberg helium atoms in an electric field above the classical ionisation threshold has been examined using the semiclassical method, with particular emphasis on discussing the influence of the core scattering on the escape dynamics of electrons. The results show that the Rydberg helium atoms ionise by emitting a train of electron pulses. Unlike the case of the ionisation of Rydberg hydrogen atom in parallel electric and magnetic fields, where the pulses of the electron are caused by the external magnetic field, the pulse trains for Rydberg helium atoms are created through core scattering. Each peak in the ionisation rate corresponds to the contribution of one core-scattered combination trajectory. This fact further illustrates that the ionic core scattering leads to the chaotic property of the Rydberg helium atom in external fields. Our studies provide a simple explanation for the escape dynamics in the ionisation of nonhydrogenic atoms in external fields.
Making use of the molecular closed-orbit theory and a new model potential for the Rydberg molecule, we have calculated the recurrence spectra of He^2＋ molecular ion in a magnetic field for different quantum defects. The Fourier transform spectra of He^2＋ molecular ion may be used to perform a direct comparison between peaks in the spectra and the scaled action values of closed orbits of the excited electron in external fields. We find that the spectral modulations can be analysed in terms of the scattering of the excited electron on the molecular core. Unlike the case of the Rydberg atom where the elastic scattering is predominant, modulations produced by inelastic scattering are also vital to the photoabsorption spectrum of the Rydberg molecule. Our results are in good agreement with the quantum results, which suggests that our method is correct.
