Controlled Rapid Adiabatic Passage in a V-Type System

In chirped rapid adiabatic passage (RAP), chirp sign determines the final state to which the complete population transfer (CPT) occurs in a three-level V-type system. In this study, we show that laser intensity can be alternatively used as a control means in RAP, when the laser pulse is chirped and of a spectral hole resonant to one of the excited states. We verified such excitation selectivity in the experiment performed as-shaped femtosecond laser pulses interacting with the lowest three levels (5S, 5P$_{1/2}$, and 5P$_{3/2}$) of atomic rubidium. The successful demonstration implies that this intensity-dependent RAP in conjunction with laser beam profile programming may allow excitation selectivity for atoms or ions arranged in space.