Photoionization Microscopy of Rydberg Hydrogen Atom in a Generalized van der Waals Potential

The ionization dynamics of a Rydberg hydrogen atom in a generalized van der Waals potential is studied using a semiclassical analysis of photoionization microscopy. Interference patterns of the 2-D radial probability density of the electrons escaping from a photoionization process have been calculated to simulate the patterns recorded on a position-sensitive detector. The added contributions from different ionization trajectories from the atom to the detector generate the interference pattern. The interference pattern is sensitive to one of the parameters governing the electron motion in the generalized van der Waals potential. The photoionization microscopy pattern can therefore be controlled by changes in the external potential.