XUV fluorescence as a probe of laser-induced helium nanoplasma dynamics

XUV fluorescence spectroscopy provides information on energy absorption and dissipation processes taking place in the interaction of helium clusters with intense femtosecond laser pulses. The present experimental results complement the physical picture derived from previous electron and ion spectroscopic studies of the generated helium nanoplasma. Here, the broadband XUV fluorescence emission from high-lying Rydberg states that covers the spectral region from 6p -> 1s at 53.0 eV all the way to photon energies corresponding to the ionization potential of He+ ions at 54.4 eV is observed directly. The cluster size-dependent population of these states in the expanding nanoplasma follows the well-known bottleneck model. The results support previous findings and highlight the important role of Rydberg states in the energetics and dynamics of laser-generated nanoplasma.