Comparative study on atomic ionization in bicircular laser fields by length and velocity gauges S-matrix theory

Ionization of atoms in counter-rotating and co-rotating bicircular laser fields is studied using the S-matrix theory in both length and velocity gauges.We show that for both the bicircular fields,ionization rates are enhanced when the two circularly polarized lights have comparable intensities.In addition,the curves of ionization rate versus the field amplitude ratio of the two colors for counter-rotating and co-rotating fields coincide with each other in the length gauge case at the total laser intensity 5×10~(14) W/cm~2,which agrees with the experimental observation.Moreover,the degree of the coincidence between the ionization rate curves of the two bicircular fields decreases with the increasing field amplitude ratio and decreasing total laser intensity.With the help of the ADK theory,the above characteristics of the ionization rate curves can be well interpreted,which is related to the transition from the tunneling to multiphoton ionization mechanism.     

Coulomb potential influence in the attoclock experimental scheme

Coulomb potential may induce a significant angular offset to the two-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions for atoms subject to strong elliptically polarized laser fields.In the attoclock experiment,this offset usually cannot be easily disentangled from the contribution of tunneling delay and poses a main obstacle to the precise measurement of tunneling delay.Based on semiclassical calculations,here,we propose a method to extract the equivalent temporal offset induced solely by Coulomb potential(TOCP)in an attoclock experiment.Our calculations indicate that,at constant laser intensity,the TOCP shows distinctive wavelength dependence laws for different model atoms,and the ratio of the target atom’s TOCP to that of H becomes insensitive to wavelength and linearly proportional to(2Ip)?3/2,where Ip is the ionization potential of the target atom.This wavelength and Ip dependence of TOCP can be further applied to extract the Coulomb potential influence.Our work paves the way for an accurate measurement of the tunneling delay in the tunneling ionization of atoms subject to intense elliptically polarized laser fields.     

Dynamics simulation on interaction of intense laser pulses with atomic clusters

Under classical particle dynamics, the interaction process between intense femtosecond laser pulses and icosahedral noble-gas atomic clusters was studied. Our calculated results show that ionization proceeds mainly through tunnel ionization in the combined field from ions, electrons and laser, rather than the electron-impact ionization. With increasing cluster size, the average and maximum kinetic energy of the product ion increases. According to our calculation, the expansion process of the clusters after laser irradiation is dominated by Coulomb explosion and the expansion scale increases with increasing cluster size. The dependence of average kinetic energy and average charge state of the product ions on laser wavelength is also presented and discussed. The dependence of average kinetic energy on the number of atoms inside the cluster was studied and compared with the experimental data. Our results agree with the experimental results reasonably well.     

Understanding Tunneling Ionization of Atoms in Laser Fields using the Principle of Multiphoton Absorption

The elaborate energy and momentum spectra of ionized electrons from atoms in laser fields suggest that the ionization dynamics described by tunneling theory should be modified. Although great efforts have been carried out within semiclassical models, there are few discussions describing the multiphoton absorption process within a quantum framework. Comparing the results obtained with the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation(TDSE)and the Keldysh–Faisal–Reiss(KFR) theory, we study the nonperturbative effects of ionization dynamics beyond the KFR theory. The difference in momentum spectra between multiphoton and tunneling regimes is understood in a unified picture with virtual multiphoton absorption processes. For the multiphoton regime, the momentum spectra can be obtained by coherent interference of each periodic contribution. However, the interference of multiphoton absorption peaks will result in a complex structure of virtual multiphoton bands in the tunneling regime. It is shown that the virtual spectra will be almost continuous in the tunneling regime instead of the discrete levels found in the multiphoton regime. Finally, with a model combining the TDSE and the KFR theory,we try to understand the different effects of virtual multiphoton processes on ionization dynamics.     

Positron scattering and ionization of neon atoms—theoretical investigations

Although positron scattering with inert gas atoms has been studied in theory as well as in experiment, there are discrepancies. The present work reports all the major total cross sections of e+-neon scattering at incident energies above ionization threshold, originating from a complex potential formalism. Elastic and cumulative inelastic scatterings are treated in the complex spherical e+-atom potential. Our total inelastic cross section includes positronium formation together with ionization and excitation channels in Ne. Because of the Ps formation channel it is difficult to separate out ionization cross sections from the total inelastic cross sections. An approximate method similar to electron-atom scattering has been applied to bifurcate ionization and cumulative excitation cross sections at energies from threshold to 2000 eV. Comparisons of present results with available data are made. An important outcome of this work is the relative contribution of different scattering processes, which we have shown by a bar-chart at the ionization peak.     

Photoelectron angular distributions from two-photon ionization of atoms near ionization threshold

Photoelectron angular distributions(PADs) from two-photon ionization of atoms in linearly polarized strong laser fields are obtained in accordance with the nonperturbative quantum scattering theory.We also study the influence of laser wavelength on PADs.For two-photon ionization very close to the ionization threshold,most of the ionized electrons are vertically ejected to the laser polarization.PADs from twophoton ionization of atoms are determined by the second order generalized phased Bessel function at which the ponderomotive parameter plays a key role.In terms of dependence of PADs on laser wavelength,corresponding variations for the ponderomotive parameter are demonstrated.     

High-order harmonic generation in a two-color strong laser field with Bohmian trajectory theory

We theoretically study the high-order harmonic generation(HHG) in a two-color laser field using the Bohmian mechanics. Our results show that, for the case of a weak second-color laser field, the simulation of the HHG with only one central Bohmian trajectory is in a good agreement with the ab initio time-dependent Schr o¨dinger equation(TDSE) results.In contrast, with the increase of the amplitude of the second-color laser field, the HHG spectra from the single central Bohmian trajectory deviate from the TDSE results more and more significantly. By analyzing the Bohmian trajectories,we find that the significant deviation is due to the fact that the central Bohmian trajectory leaves the core quickly in the two-color laser field with the breaking of inversion symmetry. Interestingly, we find that another Bohmian trajectory with different initial position, which keeps oscillating around the core, could qualitatively well reproduce the TDSE results. Furthermore, we study the HHG spectrum in a two-color laser field with inversion symmetry and find that the HHG spectrum in TDSE can be still well simulated with the central Bohmian trajectory. These results indicate that, similar to the case of one color laser field, the HHG spectra in a two-color laser field can be also reproduced with a single Bohmian trajectory,although the initial position of the trajectory is dependent on the symmetry of the laser field. Our work thus demonstrates that Bohmian trajectory theory can be used as a promising tool in investigating the HHG process in a two-color laser field.     

Extracting Structure Parameters of Dimers for Molecular Tunneling Ionization Model

We determine structure parameters of the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO)of 27 dimers for the molecular tunneling ionization(so called MO-ADK)model of Tong et al.[Phys.Rev.A 66(2002)033402].The molecular wave functions with correct asymptotic behavior are obtained by solving the time-independent Schr(o|¨)dinger equation with B-spline functions and molecular potentials which are numerically created using the density functional theory.We examine the alignment-dependent tunneling ionization probabilities from MO-ADK model for several molecules by comparing with the molecular strong-field approximation(MO-SFA)calculations.We show the molecular PerelomovPopov-Terent'ev(MO-PPT)can successfully give the laser wavelength dependence of ionization rates(or probabilities).Based on the MO-PPT model,two diatomic molecules having valence orbital with antibonding systems(i.e.,Cl_2,Ne_2)show strong ionization suppression when compared with their corresponding closest companion atoms.     

S-matrix study on alignment dependence of single ionization of molecular ions with different active orbitals

The orientation-dependent single ionization rate of the diatomic molecular ion H_2^+ with different active orbitals in an intense field is studied by using S-matrix theory. Our results show that the orientation-dependent single ionization probability of H_2^+ is greatly dependent on the symmetry and the electron density distribution of its initial states, and it can be used to identify the excited state of the molecular ion in the dissociation process.     

Probing time delay of strong-field resonant above-threshold ionization

The high-resolution three-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions via above-threshold ionization(ATI)of Xe atoms are measured in an intense near circularly polarized laser field using velocity map imaging and tomography reconstruction. Compared to the linearly polarized laser field, the employed near circularly polarized laser field imposes a more strict selection rule for the transition via resonant excitation, and therefore we can selectively enhance the resonant ATI through certain atomic Rydberg states. Our results show the self-reference ionization delay, which is determined from the difference between the measured streaking angles for nonadiabatic ATI via the 4 f and 5 f Rydberg states, is 45.6 as. Our method provides an accessible route to highlight the role of resonant transition between selected states, which will pave the way for fully understanding the ionization dynamics toward manipulating electron motion as well as reaction in an ultrafast time scale.     

Determination of structure parameters in strong-field ionization models of atoms

The Ammosov–Delone–Krainov (ADK) and Perelomov–Popov–Terent’ev (PPT) ionization models were widely used in strong-field physics and attosecond science due to their many attractive advantages such as simpler analytical formula, less computational demands, and satisfied accuracy of ionization rate. Based on the density-functional theory, we systematically determine accurate structure parameters of 25 atoms, 24 positive ions and 13 negative ions and tabulate for future applications. The wave function with correct asymptotic behavior is obtained by solving the time-independent Schrödinger equation with B-spline basis sets and the accurate structure parameters are extracted from this wave function in the asymptotic region. The accuracies of structure parameters are carefully examined by comparing the ionization probabilities (or yields) calculated by PPT and ADK models with those of solving the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation and the experimental data.     

强激光场中模型氢原子和真实氢原子的高次谐波与电离特性研究

利用数值方法求解含时薛定谔方程，研究了一维、二维模型氢原子和真实的三维氢原子在强激光场中产生的高次谐波和电离特性.结果表明，在多光子电离区域和过垒电离区域，模型氢原子与真实的氢原子产生的高次谐波和电离概率差别很小；在隧道电离区域，它们产生的高次谐波的平台特征和截止位置相似，电离概率随时间变化的趋势相近，但其数值有明显的差异.对产生这种差异的原因进行了分析. 关键词： 强激光场 高次谐波 电离概率     

分子高次谐波产生过程中同位素效应的理论研究

本文通过求解非玻恩-奥本海默近似条件下的一维含时薛定谔方程比较研究了H2+和HD+分子离子体系高次谐波谱的特征.数值计算结果表明,对于H2+体系干涉最小值对激光强度和分子初始振动态都很敏感,与此不同,HD+体系的干涉最小值的变化只依赖于初始振动态的选取.此外,借助于时频分布和电离几率,计算结果得到了合理的解释.     

分子高次谐波产生过程中同位素效应的理论研究简

本文通过求解非玻恩-奥本海默近似条件下的一维含时薛定谔方程比较研究了H+2和HD+分子离子体系高次谐波谱的特征.数值计算结果表明,对于H+2体系干涉最小值对激光强度和分子初始振动态都很敏感,与此不同,HD+分子离子体系的干涉最小值的变化只依赖于初始振动态的选取.此外,借助于时频分布和电离几率,计算结果得到了合理的解释.     

Cluster-assisted generation of multi-charged ions in nanosecond laser ionization of pulsed hydrogen sulfide beam at 1064 and 532nm

The multi-charged sulfur ions of S^q= (q\le 6) have been generated when hydrogen sulfide cluster beams are irradiated by a nanosecond laser of 1064 and 532,nm with an intensity of 10¹⁰\sim 10¹²W1\cdotcm^-2. S⁶⁺ is the dominant multi-charged species at 1064nm, while S⁴⁺, S³⁺ and S²⁺ ions are the main multi-charged species at 532nm. A three-step model (i.e., multiphoton ionization triggering, inverse bremsstrahlung heating, electron collision ionizing) is proposed to explain the generation of these multi-charged ions at the laser intensity stated above. The high ionization level of the clusters and the increasing charge state of the ion products with increasing laser wavelength are supposed mainly due to the rate-limiting step, i.e., electron heating by absorption energy from the laser field via inverse bremsstrahlung, which is proportional to \lambda ², \lambda being the laser wavelength.     

强激光场中长程势与短程势原子产生高次谐波与电离特性研究

用数值方法求解含时薛定谔方程，研究了具有长程势和短程势的一维原子在强激光场中的高次谐波和电离特性. 在强激光场中，长程势和短程势原子产生的高次谐波具有相似的特性，对应的平台和截止位置相同，但是短程势原子没有低阶的高次谐波，而长程势和短程势原子在激光场中的电离概率明显不同. 研究结果表明，原子的激发态结构对低阶的高次谐波和原子的电离概率有重要影响. 关键词： 强激光场 高次谐波 电离概率     

强激光场原子隧道电离的研究新进展

光与物质的相互作用一直是科学的主旋律之一。随着超强超短激光技术的快速发展,如今人们可以研究单个原子的内部世界,并调控光与电子的相互作用,从而实现了对原子内电子的超快动力学过程的探索。强激光诱导的原子隧道电离是众多强场物理现象的基石,具有重要的研究意义,也是研究前沿的热点之一。综述了强场原子隧道电离的最新研究进展,基于隧道电离在自然坐标系(即抛物坐标系)中的非绝热隧穿理论,得到电子隧穿后的坐标分布和动量分布。介绍了电子在隧穿过程中获得的初始相位(即势垒下相位)的理论描述和实验测量方法。基于势垒下相位揭示出电子隧穿的量子动力学信息。综述了强激光场原子隧道电离过程中光电子自旋极化的研究进展,利用正交双色光场可以在时间和空间两个维度上精确地调控光电子的自旋自由度。最后进行了总结并展望了未来的研究前沿。     

Investigation of Angular Dependence of Strong-Field Tunneling Ionization for Asymmetric Diatomic Molecule HeH2+

We determine the structure parameters for the asymmetric heteronuclear diatomic molecule HeH²⁺ at several internuclear distances with the molecular wavefunctions obtained by solving the time-independent Schrödinger equation with B-spline basis. Then the angular dependence of strong-field ionization rates of HeH²⁺ are investigated with the molecular tunneling ionization theory. We show that the shape of several lowly excited states (i.e. 2pσ ,2pπ ,3dδ ) for HeH²⁺ are reflected in the orientation dependent ionization rates very well, however, the angle-dependent ionization rate fails to follow the angular distribution of the asymptotic electron density for the ground state 1sσ . We also show that the internuclear distance dependent ionization probabilities are in a good agreement with the more accurate result obtained from the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.