Bifurcation of ion momentum distributions in sequential double ionization by elliptically polarized laser pulses

Using a fully classical model, we have studied sequential double ionization (SDI) of argon driven by elliptically polarized laser pulses at intensities well in the over-barrier ionization region. The results show that the width of the ion momentum along the major elliptical axis increases with the ellipticity while that in the laser propagation direction decreases with the ellipticity. The ion momentum in the minor elliptical axis bifurcates from one peak structure to three-peak, then to four-peak, finally to six-peak structure. Analysis shows that this ellipticity dependence of the ion momentum distribution is a result of the subcycle nature of the ionization dynamics in SDI. By changing the ellipticity and wavelength of the driving pulses, this subcycle ionization dynamics is more observable. This provides a simple and efficient way to study the subcycle ionization dynamics in strong field processes.     

Effect of elliptical polarizations on nonsequential double ionization in two-color elliptically polarized laser fields

Using the classical ensemble model, we investigate the nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) of Ar and Mg in the two-color elliptically polarized laser pulse for different elliptical polarizations. Numerical results show that for Ar atoms the NSDI yield increases as the ellipticity increases, which is different from the case of Mg atoms. Moreover, the correlated behavior in the correlated electron momentum along the x direction and ion momentum distributions of Ar atoms are influenced by the ellipticity. By statistical analysis of different times, we can conclude that the ellipticity may be responsible for the NSDI processes. The correlated momenta distributions along the x direction at the recollision time are demonstrated and the results show that the travelling time and ellipticity can affect the emitted directions of both electrons.     

Carrier-envelope-phase effect in nonsequential double ionization of Ar atoms by few-cycle laser pulses

A classical ensemble method is used to investigate nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) of Ar atoms irradiated by linearly polarized few-cycle laser pulses. The correlated-electron momentum distribution(CMD) exhibits a strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase(CEP). When the pulse duration is four cycles, the CMD shows a cross-like structure, which is consistent with experimental results. The CEP dependence is more notable when the laser pulse duration is decreased to two cycles and a special L-shaped structure appears in CMD. Recollision time of returning electrons greatly depends on CEP, which plays a significant role in accounting for the appearance of this structure.     

周期量级激光脉冲驱动下非次序双电离的三维经典系综模拟

利用三维经典系综模型研究了周期量级激光脉冲驱动的氩原子非次序双电离,所得结果表明,Ar2+离子的纵向动量分布与载波包络相位有很强的依赖关系,随载波包络相位φ的增加,具有不对称双峰结构的离子纵向动量分布重心从负动量转移到正动量,并且φ每改变π时Ar2+离子的纵向动量呈现相反的分布.在重碰撞过程中核与电子之间的库仑势发生变化后,计算得到的Ar2+离子纵向动量分布随载波包络相位的变化与实验结果定量上一致.     

Classical Effects of Carrier--Envelope Phase on Nonsequential Double Ionization

A classical microcanonical 1＋1-dimensional model is used to investigate the ion momentum distributions in nonsequential double ionization with linearly polarized few-cycle pulses. We find that the ion momentum distribution has a strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase of the few-cycle pulse, which is consistent with the experimental results qualitatively. Back analysis shows that the ionization probability of the first electron at different phases and its returning kinetic energy play the main role on the ion momentum distributions.     

Role of Nuclear Coulomb Attraction in Nonsequential Double Ionization of Argon Atom

The microscopic recollision dynamics in strong-field nonsequential double ionization of Ar atoms is investigated using three-dimensional classical ensembles. By adjusting the nuclear Coulomb potential, we can excellently reproduce the experimental results both within the laser intensity
regimes well above the recollision threshold and well below the recollision threshold quantitatively. More importantly, our trajectory analysis clearly reveals the particular electronic dynamics in recollision process: the momentum of the recolliding electron encounters a sudden change both in magnitude and in
direction when it approaches the nucleus closely, which show that the nuclear Coulomb attraction plays a key role in the recollision process of nonsequential double ionization of Ar atoms.     

Probing angular correlations in sequential double ionization

We study electron correlation in sequential double ionization of noble gas atoms and HCl in intense, femtosecond laser pulses. We measure the photoelectron angular distributions of Ne+ relative to the first electron in a pump-probe experiment with 8 fs, 800 nm, circularly polarized laser pulses at a peak intensity of a few 10(15) W/cm2. Using a linear-linear pump-probe setup, we further study He, Ar, and HCl. We find a clear angular correlation between the two ionization steps in the sequential double ionization intensity regime.     

Microscopic Dynamics of Nonsequential Double Ionization by Elliptically Polarized Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

With the classical ensemble model, we investigate nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) of xenon atoms using 780 nm, 0.25 PW/cm2elliptically polarized few-cycle laser pulses. The momentum distribution of correlated electron along the long axis of the laser polarization plane shows an obvious V-like structure locating at the third quadrant, and the momentum along the short axis of the laser polarization plane are mainly distributed in the second and fourth quadrants. Moreover, we demonstrate that the Coulomb repulsion interaction plays a decisive role to the above results.By back analyzing the classical trajectories of NSDI, we find that there are two kinds of recollision trajectories mainly contribute to NSDI, and the different microscopic dynamics for the two kinds of trajectories are clearly explored.     

原子激发态在高频强激光作用下的光电离研究

本文通过数值求解动量空间的三维含时薛定谔方程, 研究了原子高激发态在高频激光脉冲作用下, 在电离阈值附近的光电子能谱和两维动量角分布. 研究结果表明: 在该能量范围内, 单光子电离过程的贡献是最主要的. 体系初态的主量子数可以由光电子能谱峰值的位置来确定; 体系初态的角量子数可以通过光电子的两维动量角度分布确定. 在比较宽泛的参数范围内, 这一规律不随入射激光的强度和脉冲时间宽度的改变而改变, 因此原则上可以利用它对原子的初态进行识别. 此外, 还研究了体系的初态为相干叠加态, 光电子动量谱随着叠加态相对相位的变化规律. 关键词： 阈上电离 激发态 高频激光脉冲 两维动量角度分布     

Transition from strong-field sequential to nonsequential double ionization at near-infrared wavelengths and low intensities

Within a quantum-mechanical model, we investigate strong-field double ionization of a model helium atom by near-infrared, linearly polarized laser pulses at intensities far below the recollision threshold. The quantum simulations show a clear mechanism change from sequential to nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) as the laser intensity increases. For NSDI, the two-electron correlated momentum distribution exhibits a strong final-state Coulomb repulsion effect for high-energy photoelectrons, but absent for low-energy photoelectrons. This repulsion effect is ascribed to field double ionization from doubly-excited states populated by recollision of the first ionized electron when it returns to the parent ion. Such recollision-induced excited states are absent at ultraviolet wavelengths due to the very low returning kinetic energies, resulting to the absence of final-state repulsion effect in NSDI.     

Intense-field double ionization of helium: identifying the mechanism

We present quantum mechanical calculations of the electron and ion momentum distributions following double ionization of a one-dimensional helium atom by ultrashort laser pulses (780 nm) at various intensities. The two-electron momentum distributions exhibit a clear transition from nonsequential to sequential double ionization. We provide strong evidence that rescattering is responsible for nonsequential ionization by calculating the momentum spectrum of the He2+ recoil ions-which we find in excellent agreement with recent experiments-and by analyzing the electronic center-of-mass motion via Wigner transforms.     

Double ionization of helium with classical ensemble simulations

The classical ensemble method is used to study the dynamic process of the 1D helium interacting with intense laser pulses. Probabilities of double-ionization of helium in intense laser fields are calculated by the symplectic method. The wavelength dependence of double ionization in He is investigated. The non-sequential double ionization (NSDI) is observed in classical simulations at the laser wavelength of 532 nm, 780 nm and 1024 nm, respectively, while the sequential double ionization (SDI) is the dominant process at the laser wavelength of 248 nm. The pulse duration dependence on NSDI is also studied and the result is in agreement with the corresponding experimental results qualitatively.     

Reflection of thermal atoms by a pulsed standing wave

Reflection of thermal atoms by a pulsed standing wave with a duration in the nanosecond range is studied. The momentum distribution of the reflected atoms is determined by calculations based on the adiabatic atom-photon interactions. It is shown that with a proper choice of the field intensity and the pulse duration the standing-wave pattern functions as a row of independent atom mirrors. At an optimum choice of the parameter values, the fraction of the elastically reflected atoms is more than 20%. Furthermore, we show that the pulsed standing-wave mirror can be used to manipulate their final momentum distribution. When using laser pulses with an intensity of several tens of MW/cm², tens of thousands of atoms can be reflected by a single laser pulse. Received 3 December 1999 and Received in final form 25 April 2000     

Duration-Dependent Asymmetry in Photoionization of H atoms in Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

The photoionization of H atoms irradiated by few-cycle laser pulses is studied numerically. The variations of the total ionization, the partial ionizations in opposite directions, and the corresponding asymmetry with the carrier-envelope phase in several pulse durations are obtained. We find that besides a stronger modulation on the partial ionizations, the change of pulse duration leads to a shift along carrier-envelope （CE） phase in the calculated signals. The phase shift arises from the nonlinear property of ionization and relates closely to the Coulomb attraction of the parent ion to the ionized electron. Our calculations show good agreement with the experimental observation under similar conditions.     

On the keldysh ionization theory for ultrashort laser pulses

A closed analytical expression is obtained for the momentum distribution of photoelectrons from the ionization of atoms or ions by an ultrashort laser pulse. This formula is applied to analyze some models of electromagnetic pulses and the interference effect in the ionization probability.     

Frequency-resolved optical gating of isolated attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet

The pulse shape and phase of isolated attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses with a duration of 860 asec have been determined simultaneously by using frequency-resolved optical gating based on two-photon above-threshold ionization with 28-eV photons in He. From the detailed characterization, we succeeded in shaping isolated XUV pulses on an attosecond time scale by precise dispersion control with Ar gas density or by changing the driving pulse width. These results offer a novel way to excite and observe an electron motion in atoms and molecules.     

Nonsequential double ionization of the aligned hydrogen molecule in strong field

This paper studies the nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) process of diatomic molecules aligned parallel and perpendicular to an intense linearly polarized laser field by using a three-dimensional semiclassical model.With this model,it achieves insight into the ion momentum distribution under the combined influence of a two-centre Coulomb potential and an intense laser field,and this result shows the significant influence of molecular alignment on the ratio between double and single ionization rate.Careful investigations show that the NSDI process for different alignment molecules has a close relation to the laser intensity and the different bounding electron distribution has a significant influence on the final ion momentum distribution.     

以两种方法研究强激光场中的非时序双电离现象

以半经典再散射模型和量子S矩阵模型出发来研究强激光场中原子和分子的非时序双电离现象.分别利用这两个模型计算了电离率随激光强度的变化、反冲离子的动量分布、两出射电子的能量分布.数值结果表明半径典再散射模型和量子S矩阵模型在研究强场中原子和分子的非时序双电离现象时有很好的一致性.     

Manipulating Photoelectron Distributions for Rare Gas Atoms Ionized with Polarized Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Above-threshold ionizations of rare gas atoms excited by polarized femtosecond laser pulses are investigated. The photoelectron momentum spectra are obtained applying the strong-field approximation (SFA) theory. It is found that, distribution of the emitted photoelectrons varies with different polarizations of laser pulses. We have interpreted the relationship between the observed distribution and the laser polarization taking advantage of tunneling ionization theory and simple-man model. The polarization sensitivity indicates that one can easily manipulate the photoelectron distribution by controlling the polarization of the exciting pulse.     

Angular momentum distribution in strong-field frustrated tunneling ionization

Using the classical-trajectory Monte Carlo model, we have theoretically studied the angular momentum distribution of frustrated tunneling ionization(FTI) of atoms in strong laser fields. Our results show that the angular momentum distribution of the FTI events exhibits a double-hump structure. With this classical model, we back traced the tunneling coordinates, i.e., the tunneling time and initial transverse momentum at tunneling ionization. It is shown that for the events tunneling ionized at the rising edge of the electric field,the final angular momentum exhibits a strong dependence on the initial transverse momentum at tunneling.While for the events ionized at the falling edge, there is a relatively harder recollision between the returning electron and the parent ion, leading to the angular momentum losing the correlation with the initial transverse momentum. Our study suggests that the angular momentum of the FTI events could be manipulated by controlling the initial coordinates of the tunneling ionization.