Reduction of Eu3+ to Eu2+ by an intense femtosecond laser pulse in solution

Europium 3+ ions in methanol were found to be reduced to the corresponding 2+ ions upon irradiation with intense femtosecond laser pulses. The excitation wavelength of 800 nm was nonresonant with their electronic transitions of Eu3+. It is notable that femtosecond white-light laser was generated when the reactions occurred. The mechanisms can be explained in terms of solvated electron formation followed by the reduction. The electron ejection in a focused beam in solution has been known to be accompanied by white-light laser.