Strong-field molecular ionization: determination of ionization probabilities calibrated with field-free alignment

We report an original optical method providing the probability of molecular ionization induced by femtosecond laser pulses. The approach consists of exploiting molecular alignment to extract reliable information about ionization. The cross defocusing technique implemented for this purpose reveals a sensitivity with respect to postpulse alignment, as well as to the free electron density induced by the ultrashort laser pulse. The analysis of the resulting signal thus gives access to absolute single-ionization probabilities calibrated through the degree of alignment, provided that free electrons are produced mainly by single ionization. The relevance of the method is assessed in N2.     

Laser induced electronic acceleration process in nano dot

A physical model of the laser induced electron transport in dielectric with small size is discussed. The model assumes that free electrons are originally existent or produced by impact detrapping. The free electrons transporting in low dimensional dielectrics interact with phonons and surface. When the laser electric field strength is high enough, the inelastic electron scattering such as impact ionization and cascade processes will play important roles. A small size effect has been found in electron absorbing laser energy under the conditions that the laser wavelength is in near infrared zone and the material has size in nanometer level. This is a very significative effect to enlighten us on preparing ultrahigh threshold laser films with new nano-structure.     

超短脉冲激光烧蚀绝缘体材料机理的耦合理论模型

基于电子能带理论,以动力论的Fokker_Planck方程为基础,从微观层次对超短脉冲激光烧蚀绝缘体材料的机理进行分析研究.源项中分别考虑了雪崩电离、多光子电离机制,并考虑了电子能量与散射机制对电子弛豫时间的影响.建立了绝缘体烧蚀机理的耦合数学模型,其计算的激光烧蚀临界能量密度阀值与实验结果很好的吻合.定量描述了超短脉冲激光对绝缘体材料烧蚀微观过程的影响.     

Attosecond electron wave packet dynamics in strong laser fields

We use a train of sub-200 attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses with energies just above the ionization threshold in argon to create a train of temporally localized electron wave packets. We study the energy transfer from a strong infrared (IR) laser field to the ionized electrons as a function of the delay between the XUV and IR fields. When the wave packets are born at the zero crossings of the IR field, a significant amount of energy (approximately 20 eV) is transferred from the field to the electrons. This results in dramatically enhanced above-threshold ionization in conditions where the IR field alone does not induce any significant ionization. Because both the energy and duration of the wave packets can be varied independently of the IR laser, they are valuable tools for studying and controlling strong-field processes.     

Electron energy spectrum in the field-ionized plasma

In this article, the effect of ionization on the energy spectrum of electrons within the interaction of a laser pulse with hydrogen atoms is investigated using particle-in-cell simulation codes. The results show that the behaviour of electrons' energy distribution function in the field-ionized plasma, which occurred due to the field ionization, compared with that in the pre-plasma strongly depends on the pulse shape. For short rise-time pulses (here 30 fs), due to the rapid enhancement of laser electric field, ionization occurs quickly, and as a result, there is not much difference in the electron energy in both the media. However, for pulses with rise time of 40 fs, in the pre-plasma state, the electron population reaches higher energies compared with the field-ionized plasma state. The main reason for this difference is the nonlinear wave breaking that happens earlier due to density inhomogeneity in the field-ionized plasma. On the other hand, at longer rise-time pulses (here 60 and 70 fs), electrons achieve higher energies in the field-ionized plasma than those in the case of pre-plasma. In this case, because of density fluctuations in the field-ionized plasma, the Raman backscattered radiations are seeded by a strong initial noise at the earlier times and the Mendonca condition for chaos threshold is met sooner. Therefore, the electrons gain more energy through the stochastic mechanism that is in agreement with chaotic nature of the motion.     

Combination of high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses for generation of time-dependent polarization pulses and ionization of atomic gas

Time-dependent polarization pulses are generated by combining two perpendicularly polarized, high-intensity laser pulses. The time evolution of the polarization state of the combined laser pulse is measured by the POLLIWOG technique. We observed changes in the polarization state while varying the relative delay. In order to investigate the effect of pulse combination on the ionization of atoms, the electron signals and the ion signals are measured by irradiating combinations of two perpendicularly polarized pulses or two parallel polarized pulses. With the two parallel polarized pulses, high-order fringe-resolved autocorrelations are obtained by measuring the time-integrated ion signals as a function of the time delay. When two perpendicularly polarized pulses are combined, the fringe period of the time-integrated electron signal as a function of the time delay is different from that of the time-integrated ion signal. This is due to the fact that the electron signal depends on the direction of the field vibration and the number of generated electrons. We also measured the electron energy distributions at different relative delays and confirmed that these depend on the polarization state of generated pulses.     

影响单电子非线性汤姆孙散射因素的研究

应用电子汤姆孙散射的经典理论，通过理论分析和计算机模拟，研究了超短超强激光脉冲作用下电子产生的辐射脉冲的性质.计算表明，在这种情况下，电子的辐射通常以阿秒脉冲列的形式出现.讨论了不同激光场参数（包括激光强度、脉宽、初相位和偏振态）、不同电子初始状态（初始速度和位置）对辐射脉冲的时间和空间特性的影响.通常在相对论光强条件下，激光强度越大，电子辐射越强，脉宽越窄，中心频率越大，并且方向性越好；电子在线偏振激光中产生的辐射效率，比在同样强度下圆偏振激光中产生的效率更高；无论入射光是线偏振光，还是圆偏振光,辐射场呈现较复杂的偏振态, 并且它与辐射方向有关.当电子具有一定的初始能量时，通常辐射场的振幅随电子初始能量的增大而增大.不管电子的初始能量以及运动方向如何，做相对论运动的电子产生的辐射趋向于出现在靠近电子运动方向的角度区域.     

Magnetic and orbital dichroism in (e,2e) ionization of sodium

We present the first measurement of (e,2e) ionization cross sections for a laser oriented atomic target by spin polarized electrons. Cross sections are presented as a function of target orientation and polarization direction of the incident electron beam. This study provides insight into mechanisms by which angular momentum is transferred from the valence electron to the two final-state continuum electrons in both singlet and triplet spin channels, by comparing measurement with distorted wave Born approximation and the dynamically screened three Coulomb wave calculations.     

Resonant multiphoton ionization of Li

We present calculations of three photon ionization of Li produced by 3-ps laser pulses within a single electron local model potential using the dressed state picture. The laser frequency ranges from 15 000 to 18 400 cm⁻¹. We have found that the measured ionization signal as a function of photon frequency results from ionization processes in a region where the laser intensity is not homogeneous. We assume a Gaussian shape for the light pulse in the interaction volume. Our results are shown to be in good agreement with experiment. We propose that free electrons are submitted to a ponderomotif potential to interpret experimental results. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stochastic heating and acceleration of electrons in colliding laser fields in plasma

We propose a mechanism that leads to efficient acceleration of electrons in plasma by two counterpropagating laser pulses. It is triggered by stochastic motion of electrons when the laser fields exceed some threshold amplitudes, as found in single-electron dynamics. It is further confirmed in particle-in-cell simulations. In vacuum or tenuous plasma, electron acceleration in the case with two colliding laser pulses can be much more efficient than with one laser pulse only. In plasma at moderate densities, such as a few percent of the critical density, the amplitude of the Raman-backscattered wave is high enough to serve as the second counterpropagating pulse to trigger the electron stochastic motion. As a result, even with one intense laser pulse only, electrons can be heated up to a temperature much higher than the corresponding laser ponderomotive potential.     

Attosecond control of ionization by wave-packet interference

A train of attosecond pulses, synchronized to an infrared (IR) laser field, is used to create a series of electron wave packets (EWPs) that are below the ionization threshold in .helium. The ionization probability is found to strongly oscillate with the delay between the IR and attosecond fields twice per IR laser cycle. Calculations that reproduce the experimental results demonstrate that this ionization control results from interference between transiently bound EWPs created by different pulses in the train. In this way, we are able to observe, for the first time, attosecond wave-packet interference in a strongly driven atomic system.     

Angular distributions for double ionization of Li- by an ultrashort, intense laser pulse.

We predict photoelectron angular distributions for double ionization of Li- by both weak and intense ultrashort, linearly polarized laser pulses by direct numerical integration of the three-dimensional, time-dependent Schr?dinger equation. Li- is treated as a two-active electron system. Near threshold, for low intensity we recover general features of angular distributions for one-photon double ionization. For the intense field (multiphoton) case, the photoelectron angular distribution changes significantly, particularly in directions parallel and perpendicular to the laser polarization axis.     

Coherent electron scattering captured by an attosecond quantum stroboscope

We demonstrate a quantum stroboscope based on a sequence of identical attosecond pulses that are used to release electrons into a strong infrared (IR) laser field exactly once per laser cycle. The resulting electron momentum distributions are recorded as a function of time delay between the IR laser and the attosecond pulse train using a velocity map imaging spectrometer. Because our train of attosecond pulses creates a train of identical electron wave packets, a single ionization event can be studied stroboscopically. This technique has enabled us to image the coherent electron scattering that takes place when the IR field is sufficiently strong to reverse the initial direction of the electron motion causing it to rescatter from its parent ion.     

Laser-induced recombination studies with the adiabatically expanded electron beam of the Heidelberg TSR

The enhancement of spontaneous radiative recombination of C⁶⁺ ions with free electrons in a resonant laser field has been investigated at the Heidelberg cooler ring TSR for different transverse electron temperatures realized by adiabatically expanding the magnetically guided electron beam. The recombination spectra close to the ionization threshold strongly deviate from calculations for free independent electrons, showing important contributions at energies below this threshold. Shape and relative size of these contributions change significantly as the transverse temperature is varied. These changes are not consistent with the expected behaviour of sub-threshold contributions due to electric stray fields.     

偏振对飞秒激光辐照LiF晶体的影响

飞秒激光聚焦到LiF晶体内部, 晶体的加工形貌随偏振改变. 实验表明, 偏振方向平行于<110> 晶向时, 加工起点到表面的距离是<100>偏振下的1.08 倍; 而<110>偏振下加工终点到表面的距离是<100> 偏振下的1.01 倍. 为了解释加工形貌的偏振依赖, 建立了逆韧致辐射、雪崩电离和无辐射跃迁的模型, 首先, 价带电子通过强场电离和雪崩电离, 从激光中吸收能量跃迁到导带, 该过程用电子密度演化方程和傍轴非线性薛定谔方程描述, 求解方程得到导带电子密度; 其次, 导带电子通过无辐射跃迁过程释放能量给晶格, 由能量守恒计算出晶格温度沿激光传播方向的分布; 最后, 晶格温度超过熔点以上的区域被加工. 模拟结果显示, <110>偏振下加工起点到表面的距离是<100> 偏振下的1.03倍, 而<110>偏振下加工终点到表面的距离是<100>偏振下的0.981 倍, 与实验结果基本一致. 虽然Z扫描技术测量的非线性折射率随偏振方向变化, 但是非线性折射率的变化趋势与实验结果相反. 模拟和实验证明逆韧致辐射导致加工形貌随偏振变化.     

Strong-field double ionization of Ar below the recollision threshold

Nonsequential double ionization of Ar by 45 fs laser pulses (800 nm) at (4-7)x10;{13} W/cm;{2} was explored in fully differential measurements. Well below the field-modified recollision threshold we enter the multiphoton regime. Strongly correlated back-to-back emission of the electrons along the polarization direction is observed to dominate in striking contrast to all previous data. No effect of Coulomb repulsion can be found, the predicted cutoff in the sum-energy spectra of two emitted electrons is confirmed, and the potential importance of multiple recollisions is discussed.     

Mechanisms of femtosecond laser-induced breakdown and damage in MgO

Single-shot laser damage threshold of MgO for 40-986 fs, 800 nm laser pulses is reported. The pump-probe measurements with femtosecond pulses were carried out to investigate the time-resolved electronic excitation processes. A theoretical model including conduction band electrons (CBE) production and laser energy deposition was applied to discuss the roles of multiphoton ionization (MPI) and avalanche ionization in femtosecond laser-induced dielectric breakdown. The results indicate that avalanche ionization plays the dominant role in the femtosecond laser-induced breakdown in MgO near the damage threshold.     

Photoelectron angular distributions of H ionization in low energy regime:Comparison between different potentials

We theoretically investigate the low energy part of the photoelectron spectra in the tunneling ionization regime by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrdinger equation for different atomic potentials at various wavelengths.We find that the shift of the first above-threshold ionization(ATI) peak is closely related to the interferences between electron wave packets,which are controlled by the laser field and largely independent of the potential.By gradually changing the short-range potential to the long-range Coulomb potential,we show that the long-range potential's effect is mainly to focus the electrons along the laser's polarization and to generate the spider structure by enhancing the rescattering process with the parent ion.In addition,we find that the intermediate transitions and the Rydberg states have important influences on the number and the shape of the lobes near the threshold.     

Electron radiography using hot electron jets from sub-millijoule femtosecond laser pulses

Electron jets produced in the intermediate intensity range of 10¹⁵ to 10¹⁷ W/cm² from submillijoule 120 fs Ti:Sapphire laser pulses focused to spots of a few microns in diameter have been characterized. The experimental results show strong emission of hot electrons with energies from 80 keV to above 250 keV from microplasmas created with both p- and s-polarized 250 μJ laser pulses. The electron jets with energies above 250 keV are observed to be highly directional. The electron jets are observed in the plane of polarization of the laser electric field for both p- and s-polarized laser pulses. The hot electrons emitted from these femtosecond laser plasmas have also been used for radiographic imaging. It is expected that the short initial duration of these electron pulses would make them useful for time resolved applications. PACS 41.75. Fr; 52.38.Kd; 52.70.Nc     

CO分子在线性极化飞秒激光场中的TDDFT研究

本文运用将含时密度泛函理论和分子动力学非绝热耦合的方法,研究了CO分子在不同强度、不同极化方向的激光场中的电离和动力学行为. 研究发现,激光强度越强,CO分子吸收的能量越多,电离越早且电离越强,CO分子键长变长且伸缩振动越剧烈. 此外,CO分子偶极矩的变化及峰值也随着激光强度的增强而增大. 对激光极化方向的研究发现,激光极化方向沿着CO分子轴向时,分子的电离最强且伸缩振动最剧烈. 当激光极化角增大时,CO分子的电离逐渐被抑制且电子的偶极振动对激光极化方向表现出较强的依赖性. 此外研究还表明,CO分子碳原子和氧原子周围电子的弥散方式不同且与激光极化方向有关. 关键词： 含时密度泛函理论 分子动力学 分子电离