Threshold-related enhancement of the high-energy plateau in above-threshold detachment

We present nonperturbative theoretical results showing a resonant-like enhancement of above-threshold detachment spectra in the region of the high-energy plateau as the laser intensity sweeps across channel thresholds. This enhancement has a pure quantum origin stemming from well-known threshold phenomena in multichannel problems whose features are clearly demonstrated in our numerical results. Similar well-known anomalies at neutral atom thresholds are expected to explain experimentally observed resonant-like enhancements of above-threshold ionization spectra.     

Ellipticity dependence of high-order above-threshold ionization from aligned diatomic molecules

We investigate high-order above-threshold ionization of the Ar₂ molecule by an elliptically polarized laser field. In order to describe this process we use the modified molecular strong-field approximation. We have found that the differential ionization rate is a very sensitive function of the ellipticity of the laser field and of the molecular orientation. For parallel orientation the rate has the maximum value for linear polarization, independently of the laser intensity. On the other hand, for perpendicular orientation the rate is maximal for a particular value of the ellipticity which is different from zero. Such a behavior can be related to the molecular symmetry. We consider the differential ionization rate of high-energy electrons as a function of the ellipticity for different internuclear distances. We also present, in the electron energy-emission angle plane, our new results for the focal-averaged spectra of electrons ionized by an elliptically polarized laser field. We have found that, in this case, the two-source two-rescattering-centers interference minima are blurred.     

The above-threshold detachment of negative ions in half-cycle laser field

We study partial detachment rate and photodetachment asymmetry of F⁻ detached by half-cycle linearly polarized laser field using numerical simulation. Similar to photodetachment for negative ions in few-cycle laser fields, we find that partial detachment rates of a couple opposite directions in the above-threshold detachment of F⁻ are not equal, the detachment is asymmetric. Furthermore, the photodetachment asymmetry degree increases with carrier-envelop phase (CEP) as the peak laser intensity becoming stronger or the pulse width becoming shorter. The maximal asymmetry degree is stronger with higher laser intensity. We confirm the effect of the CEP, laser intensity and pulse width on the above-threshold detachment of F⁻ in half-cycle laser fields. It provides a possible way to determine the CEP of half-cycle laser fields by measuring detached photoelectrons.     

Molecular above-threshold ionization with a circularly polarized laser field

Molecular above-threshold ionization by a circularly polarized laser field is investigated. Our theoretical approach is based on the modified molecular strong-field approximation. Various gauge-dependent versions of this approximation are considered and homonuclear and heteronuclear molecular species characterized by different symmetries are used as targets. As in the case of a linearly polarized field, the imprint of the molecular multicenter structure can be observed in the above-threshold ionization spectra. It manifests itself as minima in the rate of the ionized electrons as a function of their energy. The locations of these minima are strongly influenced by the symmetry of the corresponding highest occupied molecular orbital as well as the internuclear separation. Analyzing the interference structures of the electron spectra one can obtain information about the molecular symmetry.     

Molecules in a bicircular strong laser field

Strong-field ionization of nonlinear planar triatomic molecules by a bicircular laser field is analyzed within the improved molecular strong-field approximation. Our calculations include additional interaction between the liberated electrons and atomic or ionic centers of the parent molecular ion. The used bicircular field consists of two counterrotating circularly polarized fields having angular frequencies \(r \omega\) and \(s \omega\), with integer r and s. In the case when the laser-field-polarization plane is parallel to the plane of the considered molecule (example of ozone molecule is analyzed), the corresponding photoelectron spectra are not rotationally symmetric. On the other hand, when these planes are mutually perpendicular, for the \((r\omega ,s\omega )=(\omega ,3\omega )\) bicircular field, the electron spectra satisfy the corresponding rotational symmetries. Analyzing the obtained spectra and the corresponding symmetries, one can extract information about molecular orientation and structure. This technique may also be useful for more complex polyatomic molecules.     

The spectrum of above-threshold electrons produced upon atom ionization by a short light pulse

The Landau-Dykhne approximation for the spectrum of above-threshold electrons produced upon ionization of atoms by a monochromatic laser field is used to calculate the spectrum in the case of ionization by a short laser pulse. The spectra obtained in this way are compared with those calculated by the adiabatic theory. The comparison shows that the Landau-Dykhne approximation with the properly chosen exponential factor describes well the averaged spectrum.     

The role of incoherent scattering in laser-induced and laser-assisted processes

We use the S-matrix formalism in order to investigate the possible role of incoherent scattering in different processes in a strong laser field. In the cases of above-threshold ionization (ATI) of atoms and above-threshold detachment (ATD) of negative ions, we assume that the ionized (detached) electron may scatter off a target other than its parent ion (atom). We call such a process incoherent in order to distinguish it from the coherent rescattering of an ionized (detached) electron off its parent ion (atom) which occurs in high-order above-threshold ionization (HATI) and high-order above-threshold detachment (HATD) processes. The same line of reasoning can be applied to the laser-assisted processes, such as the laser-assisted electron-ion radiative recombination (LAR) and the laser-assisted electron-atom scattering (LAS). If the density of the ionic beam used in a LAR experiment is high, it is possible that the electron scatters off an ionic target and subsequently recombines with another ion. Analogously, the electron that scatters on an atom in the LAS process may scatter once more off another atom. We show that the contribution of these incoherent processes to the energy spectra can be higher than that of the corresponding coherent processes if the density of atomic (ionic) targets is high enough. The spectra of the incoherent processes have a cutoff-like behavior and the cutoff energies are higher than those of the corresponding coherent processes. These results are explained by semiclassical analysis.     

氢原子在红外激光和极紫外脉冲组合场中的阈上电离

通过求解氢原子在强红外(IR)激光和极紫外（XUV）脉冲组合场中的三维含时薛定谔方程(TDSE),理论研究了XUV脉冲的加入对光电子能谱和二维光电子动量分布的影响.计算结果表明,与仅由红外场驱动的情况相比,组合场驱动下的光电子能谱和二维光电子动量分布中呈现出明显的干涉增强结构,干涉结构对XUV脉冲的强度、光子能量和时间延迟都有很强的依赖,该方案可实现高能阈上电离谱的选择性增强.     

New results in above-threshold ionization and high-order harmonic generation of atomic and molecular systems

Numerical results obtained applying the strong-field approximation to atomic and molecular processes in intense laser fields are presented. In particular, the forward-backward asymmetry in high-order above-threshold ionization (HATI) of Ar atoms by a few-cycle laser pulse is considered. It is shown that the resonantlike enhancements observed in the focal-averaged spectra disappear with the decreasing laser pulse duration. For HATI and high-order harmonic generation (HHG) by molecular systems, we present new results for diatomic molecules. The choice of gauge and the problem of dressing of the initial bound state are discussed. The appearance of the interference minima in molecular HATI and HHG spectra and their role in the characterization of the molecular structure are considered using the example of the Ar₂ molecule.     

Extracting the phase distribution of the electron wave packet ionized by an elliptically polarized laser pulse

We use an interferometic scheme to extract the phase distribution of the electron wave packet from above-threshold ionization in elliptically polarized laser fields. In this scheme, an electron wave packet released from a circularly polarized laser pulse acts as a reference wave and interferes with the electron wave packet ionized by a time-delayed counter-rotating elliptically polarized laser field. The generated vortex-shaped interference pattern in the photoelectron momentum distribution enables us to extract the phase distribution of the electron wave packet in the elliptically polarized laser pulse with high precision. By artificially screening the ionic potential at different ranges when solving the time-dependent Schördinger equation, we find that the angle-dependent phase distribution of the electron wave packet in the elliptically polarized laser field shows an obvious angular shift as compared to the strong-field approximation, whose value is the same as the attoclock shift. We also show that the amplitude of the angle-dependent phase distribution is sensitive to the ellipticity of the laser pulse, providing an alternative way to precisely calibrate the laser ellipticity in the attoclock measurement.     

Angle-Resolved Electron Spectra of F~- Ions by Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

The above-threshold detachment of F~- ions induced by a linearly polarized few-cycle laser pulse is investigated theoretically using the strong-field approximation model without considering the rescattering mechanism. We first derive an analytical form of transition amplitude for describing the strong-field photodetachment of F~- ions.The integration over time in transition amplitude can be performed using the numerical integration method or the saddle-point(SP) method of Shearer et al. [Phys. Rev. A 88(2013) 033415]. The validity of the SP method is carefully examined by comparing the energy spectra and photoelectron angular distributions(PADs) with those obtained from the numerical integration method. By considering the volume effect of a focused laser beam, both the energy spectra and the low-energy PADs calculated by the numerical integration method agree very well with the experimental results.     

High-order above-threshold ionization of heteronuclear diatomic molecules by a strong laser field with arbitrary polarization

The molecular strong-field approximation is applied to calculate angle-resolved photoelectron spectra in the process of high-order above-threshold ionization of carbon-monoxide molecules by an elliptically polarized laser field. The theory is formulated to include the Stark shift of the initial bound state of the valence electron. It is shown that the angle-resolved photoelectron spectra of aligned CO molecules exhibit pronounced minima which can be explained by destructive interference of two partial T-matrix contributions. The dependence of contributing partial amplitudes on the laser field ellipticity is analyzed in detail.     

Phase- and helicity-dependent effects in three-color ionization

We study the two-photon ionization of the hydrogen atom from its ground state by a three-color electromagnetic field consisting of a superposition of an IR laser and two of its consecutive odd harmonics of order 2p−1 and 2p+1, withp a positive integer and constant relative phase difference. The ionization process due to the net absorption of the energy 2pħω (ω being the IR laser frequency) is considered. The influence of phase difference and helicity on the azimuthal angular distribution of the ejected photoelectrons is illustrated in the case in which the two harmonics have identical polarizations. Phase effect on the alignment of the differential ionization rate is also investigated.     

Nondipole Effects in Atomic Ionization Induced by an Intense Counter-Rotating Bicircular Laser Field

Nondipole effects occurring in the process of atomic ionization by an intense, mid-infrared, counter-rotating bicircular laser field are investigated using the strong-field approximation with leading-order nondipole corrections. The time integrals appearing in the expression for the differential ionization rate are computed in two ways: numerically, and by applying the saddle-point approximation. The nondipole corrections introduce an asymmetry in the photoelectron momentum distribution along the field propagation direction. The asymmetry is quantified by the partial average value of the propagation-direction momentum component of the photoelectrons and by the normalized difference of the differential ionization rates computed including and excluding the nondipole corrections. Using the saddle-point approximation, it is investigated how the nondipole corrections change the solutions for direct photoelectrons and how this affects the momentum spectra. The impact of nondipole corrections increases with increasing photoelectron energy. Analysis of the complete photoelectron spectra including both direct and rescattered photoelectrons shows that, in the low-energy region, a shift against the propagation direction occurs. The partial average of the propagation–direction momentum component in the rescattering region exhibits a plateau structure and also a local minimum structure that was recently observed in an experiment with a linearly polarized laser field (Lin et al., Phys Rev. Lett. 128, 023201 (2022)).     

Rotation-translation coupling of a double-headed Brownian motor in a traveling-wave potential

Frontiers of Physics - We use an interferometic scheme to extract the phase distribution of the electron wave packet from above-threshold ionization in elliptically polarized laser fields. In this...     

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.     

Laser-induced recollision phenomena: interference resonances at channel closings

An analytical theory of the resonancelike phenomena in high-order above-threshold ionization is presented that explains details of the experimental spectra and theoretical simulations. It traces the observed features to the constructive interference of "quantum orbits" with long travel times at laser intensities where the N-photon ionization channels close. Characteristic differences show up between even and odd N. The effects are generic to all laser-induced recollision phenomena. For nonsequential double ionization, their signature in the momentum distribution of the final electrons is identified.     

Method for calculating multiphoton above-threshold processes in atoms: Two-photon above-threshold ionization

The two-photon above-threshold ionization of atoms is calculated using numerical algorithms of the Padé approximation in the model-potential method with the Coulomb asymptotics. The total and differential cross sections of the above-threshold ionization of helium and alkali metal atoms by elliptically polarized radiation are presented. The dependence of the angular distribution of photoelectrons on the sign of the ellipticity of radiation (the elliptic dichroism phenomenon) is analyzed in the above-threshold frequency range.     

Atom in a femtosecond bichromatic laser field

The ionization of real hydrogen atom is studied under the action of a two-color pulsed laser field of duration 2.12 fs consisting of a fundamental frequencyω and one of its harmonics. We study the effect of phase difference (φ betweenω and its harmonic on the ionization probability. It is found that ionization can be switched on and off by varying the relative phaseφ betweenω and its harmonic.     

Above-threshold ionization by an elliptically polarized field: interplay between electronic quantum trajectories

Measurements of energy-resolved angular distributions of electrons generated in above-threshold ionization of rare gases in a field with elliptical polarization are presented, with emphasis on the high-energy part of the spectra. The data show a second plateau at a specific angle with respect to the large component of the laser field. The results are compared to a calculation based on a strong-field rescattering approximation. This is interpreted in terms of the superposition of quantum trajectories. The second plateau is associated with the interference of electrons that do and that do not rescatter.