Relative phase effect of nonsequential double ionization in Ar by two-color elliptically polarized laser field

We investigated the nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) in Ar by two-color elliptically polarized laser field with a three-dimensional(3D) classical ensemble method. We study the relative phase effect of NSDI and distinguish two particular recollision channels in NSDI, which are recollision–impact ionization(RII) and recollision-induced excitation with subsequent ionization(RESI), according to the delay-time between the recollision and the final double ionization. The numerical results indicate that the ion momentum distribution is changed and the triangle structure is more obvious with the decrease of the relative phase. We also demonstrate that the RESI process always dominates in the whole double ionization process and the ratio of RESI and RII channels can be influenced by the relative phase.     

椭圆偏振激光脉冲驱动的氩原子非次序双电离

利用经典系综模型研究了椭圆偏振激光脉冲驱动的氩原子非次序双电离.计算结果表明,非次序双电离产率随着椭偏率的增大而减小;双电离得到的电子对在激光偏振平面长轴方向的末态关联动量谱呈现正关联,在激光偏振平面短轴方向的末态关联动量谱呈现反关联;Ar²⁺在激光偏振平面短轴方向的末态动量谱呈现单峰结构,并且随着椭偏率增大而变宽.轨迹分析显示,椭圆偏振激光脉冲驱动下,非次序双电离仍然是通过再碰撞而发生;随着椭偏率的增大,有效碰撞和单电离之间的时间延迟增加,这是因为椭偏率较大时第一个电子需要经过多次往返才能与母核离子发生有效碰撞.     

Electron correlations in nonsequential double ionization of argon atoms by elliptically polarized laser pulses

Using a classical ensemble model, we investigate the correlation behaviour of electrons originating from nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) of argon atoms by the elliptically polarized laser pulses. Because of the ellipticity, not only the first electron to return but also the later return of tunneled electrons contribute significantly to NSDI. We mainly discuss two kinds of events of NSDI originating from the first and the second return separately. For the NSDI resulting from the recollision of the first return, the correlated electron momentum spectrum along the long axis of the laser polarization plane reveals an obvious V-like shape, located at the first and third quadrant. However, for the NSDI resulting from the recollision of the second return, the momenta of two electrons are distributed in the four quadrants uniformly. By analysing the trajectories of these two kinds, we find that the recollision energy and the laser phase at recollision are different for the first and second returning trajectories, which are responsible for the difference in the correlated behavior of the final electron momentum.     

Asymmetric structure of atomic above-threshold ionization spectrum in two-color elliptically polarized laser fields

According to the frequency-domain theory, we investigate the asymmetric structure of above-threshold ionization(ATI) spectrum of an atom in two-color elliptically polarized(EP) laser fields. When both laser fields are linearly polarized(LP), the spectrum shows that the multi-plateau structure is symmetric about the emitted angle of electron at π/2, while the spectrum becomes asymmetric and shifts rightwards with the increase of the EP degree of the IR laser field. Since the total ATI process is regarded as including direct ATI and the rescattering ATI, we analyze the spectrum structure of direct ATI and rescattering ATI separately. Using the saddle-point approximation, we find that for direct ATI, the fringes on the spectrum are mainly attributed to the fact that the ionization probability becomes very small when the direction of emitted electrons is perpendicular to the direction of the XUV laser polarization; while for the rescattering ATI, the interference fringes on the spectrum mainly come from the superposition of the waist structures on the spectra of all sub-channels.     

椭圆偏振激光脉冲驱动的氩原子非次序双电离对激光强度的依赖

利用经典系综模型研究了椭圆偏振激光脉冲驱动的氩原子非次序双电离对激光强度的依赖.计算结果显示,沿激光偏振平面长轴方向,电子对的关联行为依赖于激光强度,在较高的激光强度下,关联电子对的动量谱呈正关联,并且在一、三象限呈现明显的V-型结构.在较低的激光强度下,关联电子对的动量谱呈强烈的反关联行为.在激光偏振平面短轴方向,关联电子对的动量谱在不同的激光强度下均呈现强烈的反关联行为.通过分析非次序双电离的经典运动轨迹,证明末态电子之间的排斥作用对关联电子动量谱在激光偏振平面长轴方向的V-型结构,以及短轴方向的反关联行为起决定性作用.     

Influence of relative phase on the nonsequential double ionization process of CO_2 molecules by counter-rotating two-color circularly polarized laser fields

We investigate the nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) of linear triatomic molecules by the counter-rotating two-color circularly polarized(CRTC) laser fields with a classical ensemble method. The results of the simulation reveal that NSDI yield strongly connected with the relative phase. The trajectory tracking method shows that the return time of the electron is controlled by the relative phase. In addition, when we change the CRTC laser wavelengths, the relative phase of the maximum and minimum yield of NSDI also changes. This shows that the influence of the Coulomb potential in the triatomic molecules on the electron return process cannot be ignored. This work will effectively promote the electronic dynamics study of NSDI for the triatomic molecule.     

Recollision dynamics and phase diagram for nonsequential double ionization with circularly polarized laser fields

A semiclassical quasistatic model is used to investigate the recollision dynamics in circularly polarized laser fields. A velocity window for recollision to occur is found. Only when the return electron's orbits are irregular does significant double ionization take place. The model reproduces the experimental results for magnesium and explains the apparently conflicting experimental results in terms of an analytical formula that demarcates the phase diagram for the nonsequential double ionization in circularly polarized laser fields.     

Effect of electron excitation in nonsequential double ionization by intense laser fields

We study the double ionization process of atoms in intense laser fields. The momentum distributions of the correlated electrons are calculated. Contrary to the general expectation, we show an increasing proportion of the electrons ionized via excitation with the increasing laser intensity. These electrons generally have small energy thus they concentratedly distribute on the central region of the momentum diagram. Consequently, the central part of the momentum diagram becomes more notable in higher intensity laser fields. Further study suggests that this phenomenon is general in double ionization.     

Dynamics of strong-field double ionization of H_2 in co-rotating two-color circularly polarized laser fields

Double ionization of H_2 in a co-rotating two-color circularly polarized(TCCP) laser field is theoretically investigated. By changing the ratio of electric field peak amplitudes of the TCCP laser pulses, the double ionization probability as a function of the laser intensity shows a clear knee structure, which is suppressed significantly in the case of the atom. Due to the large spatial range of the electronic initial distribution, with the analysis of classical trajectories of ionized electrons, it is found that the ionization of the electron in the farther distance increases the probability of recollision. Furthermore, the yield of nonsequential double ionization created by the recollision can be enhanced by controlling the amplitude ratio of the TCCP laser field.     

Nonsequential double ionization of diatomic molecules by elliptically polarized laser pulses

Using the classical ensemble method, we investigate nonsequential double ionization （NSDI） of diatomic molecules by elliptically polarized laser pulses. The results show that the ellipticity of the laser field has a strong suppression effect on NSDI probabilities both in parallel and perpendicular alignments. The double ionization （DI） channel is commonly dominated by NSDI, and the NSDI channel changes with ellipticity. As ellipticity increases, more and more NSDIs occur through recollision excitation with subsequent field ionization （RESI）. Moreover, like the case of linear polarization, the two electrons involved in NSDI for perpendicularly aligned molecules are more likely to emit into the opposite hemispheres as compared to the case of parallel alignment. Additionally, this alignment effect increases as ellipticity increases.     

Helicity-dependent time delays in multiphoton ionization by two-color circularly polarized laser fields

By numerically solving the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation, we have invest-tigated multiphoton ionization of hydrogen atom in the two-color circularly polarized (TCCP) laser fields consisting of a strong 400 nm and a much weaker 800 nm pulses. Due to the presence of perturb-bative 800 nm laser pulse, sideband peaks emerge between the above-threshold ionization rings in the photoelectron momentum distributions. Our numerical results show that the sideband peaks exhibit one-lobe structure in the co-rotating TCCP laser fields, while it displays the three-lobe structure in the counter-rotating TCCP laser fields. Moreover, the photoelectron yield of sidebands in the co-rotating TCCP fields is much higher than those of the counter-rotating TCCP fields. These phenomena could be well explained from the perspective of the photon-absorption channels via the selection rules. In-terestingly, an obvious phase shift between the sidebands of different orders from the co-rotating and counter-rotating TCCP fields is observed. This shift indicates the helicity-dependent time delay in the one-photon continuum-continuum transition process.     

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.     

Double ionization by strong elliptically polarized laser pulses

We join the tribute to Professor N.B. Delone in this memorial issue by presenting the results of new calculations on the effects of ellipticity on double ionization by short and strong near-optical laser pulses.     

Semiclassical investigation of Coulomb focusing effects in atomic above-threshold ionization with elliptically polarized laser fields

We investigate atomic above-threshold ionization in elliptically polarized strong laser fields with a semiclassical approach.With increasing laser intensity,the Coulomb focusing(CF) effects are found to become stronger in both parallel and perpendicular directions with respect to the polarization plane.The dependence of CF effects on tunnel exit,initial transverse momentum distribution and laser electric field is analyzed.It was revealed that the effects of tunnel exit are most prominent with variation of the laser intensity,and the other two factors both play non-negligible roles.Our results provide a deeper insight to the recent experiments of Coulomb asymmetry[Shafir D,et al.,2013 Phys.Rev.Lett.111 023005 and Li M,et al,2013 Phys.Rev.Lett.111 023006].     

氦原子非次序双电离对正交双色场强度比的依赖关系

利用经典系综模型研究了正交双色场中氦原子非次序双电离对双色场强度比的依赖关系.研究表明, 该依赖关系与双色场相对相位φ 有关. φ =0.25π 时,沿长波长激光偏振方向的相关动量谱随强度比的增大从相关模式转变为反相关模式. φ =0.35π, 0.45π 时,相关动量主要分布在第一和第三象限,相关模式几乎不随强度比的变化而变化.对双电离轨迹碰撞时间、碰撞角、碰撞动量的向后分析可以解释上述结果,并显示了正交双色场对非次序双电离中碰撞时间、碰撞角的控制作用.     

Internal collision double ionization of molecules driven by co-rotating two-color circularly polarized laser pulses

The double ionization process of molecules driven by co-rotating two-color circularly polarized fields is investigated with a three-dimensional classical ensemble model. Numerical results indicate that a considerable part of the sequential double ionization(DI) events of molecules occur through internal collision double ionization(ICD), and the ICD recollision mechanism is significantly different from that in non-sequential double ionization(NSDI). By analyzing the results of internuclear distan...     

The effect of electron initial longitudinal velocity on non-sequential double ionization process in elliptically polarized laser field

The effect of initial longitudinal velocity of the tunnelled electron on the non-sequential double ionization (NSDI) process in elliptically polarized laser field is studied by a semiclassical model. We find that the non-zero initial longitudinal velocity has a suppressing effect on single-return collision (SRC) events in double ionization process, more specifically, it results in an obvious reduction in the center part of the correlation momentum distributions in the direction of the major polarization axis (z axis) and makes the distribution of single-return collision in the minor polarization axis (x axis) become narrow.     

Extreme-ultraviolet harmonic generation near 13 nm with a two-color elliptically polarized laser field

Theoretical results for high-harmonic generation by a two-color elliptically polarized laser field are presented. Special emphasis is placed on coherent radiation near 13 nm in connection with the development of extreme-ultraviolet lithography. Linearly polarized radiation at this wavelength can be obtained with a linearly polarized bichromatic laser field, whereas circularly polarized radiation can be generated with a bichromatic circularly polarized field with counterrotating coplanar components. In both cases the harmonic emission efficiencies at the saturation intensity are more than 1 order of magnitude larger than for harmonic generation with a monochromatic linearly polarized field.     

Three dimensional alignment of molecules using elliptically polarized laser fields

We demonstrate, theoretically and experimentally, that an intense, elliptically polarized, nonresonant laser field can simultaneously force all three axes of a molecule to align along given axes fixed in space, thus inhibiting the free rotation in all three Euler angles. Theoretically, the effect is illustrated through time dependent quantum mechanical calculations. Experimentally, 3, 4-dibromothiophene molecules are aligned with a nanosecond laser pulse. The alignment is probed by 2D ion imaging of the fragments from a 20 fs laser pulse induced Coulomb explosion.     

The effect of electron initial longitudinal velocity on the non-sequential double ionization process in an elliptically polarized laser field

The effect of initial longitudinal velocity of the tunnelled electron on the non-sequential double ionization(NSDI) process in an elliptically polarized laser field is studied by a semiclassical model.We find that the non-zero initial longitudinal velocity has a suppressing effect on single-return collision(SRC) events in the double ionization process,more specifically,it results in an obvious reduction in the center part of the correlation momentum distributions in the direction of the major polarization axis(z axis) and makes the distribution of single-return collision in the minor polarization axis(x axis) become narrower.