Higher order nonlinear optical effects and generation of tunable VUV radiation in xenon

A flexible scheme of two independently tunable dye lasers is used to study a few selected third- and fifth-order nonlinear optical processes in xenon. Through an optical frequency mixing technique, narrow-band and tunable vacuum ultraviolet light is generated in the 1400 Å region with powers on the order of 10 W. Two photon absorptions into 6p', 7p, and 4f states are observed as well as resonantly enhanced three-photon absorptions into some autoionizing levels around 935 Å.