Strong field quantum control by selective population of dressed states

We study the dynamics of potassium atoms in intense laser fields using femtosecond phase-locked pulse pairs in order to extract physical mechanisms of strong field quantum control. The structure of the Autler-Townes (AT) doublet in the photoelectron spectra is measured to analyse transient processes. The analysis shows that the physical mechanism is based on the selective population of dressed states (SPODS). Experimental results of closed loop optimization of SPODS are presented in addition. Applications to decoherence measurements with implications for quantum information are also proposed.