Multi-Sideband RABBIT in Argon

We report a joint experimental and theoretical study of a three-sideband (3-SB) modification of the "reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions" (RABBIT) setup. The 3-SB RABBIT scheme makes it possible to investigate phases resulting from interference between transitions of different orders in the continuum. Furthermore, the strength of this method is its ability to focus on the atomic phases only, independent of a chirp in the harmonics, by comparing the RABBIT phases extracted from specific SB groups formed by two adjacent harmonics. We verify earlier predictions that the phases and the corresponding time delays in the three SBs extracted from angle-integrated measurements become similar with increasing photon electron energy. A variation in the angle dependence of the RABBIT phases in the three SBs results from the distinct Wigner and continuum-continuum coupling phases associated with the individual angular momentum channels. A qualitative explanation of this dependence is attempted by invoking a propensity rule. Comparison between the experimental data and predictions from an R-matrix (close-coupling) with time dependence calculation shows qualitative agreement in the observed trends.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Penning ionization of doped helium nanodroplets following EUV excitation

Helium nanodroplets are widely used as a cold, weakly interacting matrix for spectroscopy of embedded species. In this work we excite or ionize doped He droplets using synchrotron radiation and study the effect onto the dopant atoms depending on their location inside the droplets (rare gases) or outside at the droplet surface (alkali metals). Using photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging spectroscopy at variable photon energies (20-25 eV), we compare the rates of charge-transfer to Penning ionization of the dopants in the two cases. The surprising finding is that alkali metals, in contrast to the rare gases, are efficiently Penning ionized upon excitation of the (n=2)-bands of the host droplets. This indicates rapid migration of the excitation to the droplet surface, followed by relaxation, and eventually energy transfer to the alkali dopants

EUV ionization of pure He nanodroplets: Mass-correlated photoelectron imaging, Penning ionization and electron energy-loss spectra

The ionization dynamics of pure He nanodroplets irradiated by EUV radiation is studied using Velocity-Map Imaging PhotoElectron-PhotoIon COincidence (VMI-PEPICO) spectroscopy. We present photoelectron energy spectra and angular distributions measured in coincidence with the most abundant ions He+, He2+, and He3+. Surprisingly, below the autoionization threshold of He droplets we find indications for multiple excitation and subsequent ionization of the droplets by a Penning-like process. At high photon energies we evidence inelastic collisions of photoelectrons with the surrounding He atoms in the droplets

Single ionization of atoms in intense laser pulses: Evolution from multiphoton to tunnel ionization

We present results of high resolution fully differential measurements on single ionization of He, Ne, and Ar by 7-25 fs linearly polarized 800nm laser pulses at intensities of up to 2.1015 W/cm2. Using a 'Reaction-Microscope' we were able to trace signatures of multiphoton ionization deep into the tunnelling regime. Surprisingly, in the low-energy electron spectra we observed several features (absence of the ponderomotive shifts, splitting of the peaks, their degeneration for few-cycle laser pulses) typical for resonantly-enhanced ionization. Other remarkable features, as the sharp cusp-like momentum distributions in the direction perpendicular to the laser field or the observed minima at zero longitudinal momentum for He and Ne, can be reproduced by semiclassical models, where the electron motion in the combined laser and Coulomb field is treated classically after the tunnelling

Multi-sideband interference structures by high-order photon-induced continuum-continuum transitions in helium

Following up on a previous paper on two-color photoionization of Ar(3p) [Bharti et al., Phys. Rev. A 103 (2021) 022834], we present measurements and calculations for a modified three-sideband (3-SB) version of the "reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions" (RABBITT) configuration applied to He(1s). The 3-SB RABBITT approach allows us to explore interference effects between pathways involving different orders of transitions within the continuum. The relative differences in the retrieved oscillation phases of the three sidebands provide insights into the continuum-continuum transitions. The ground state of helium has zero orbital angular momentum, which simplifies the analysis of oscillation phases and their angle-dependence within the three sidebands. We find qualitative agreement between our experimental results and the theoretical predictions for many cases but also observe some significant quantitative discrepancies.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Time-Resolved Measurement of Interatomic Coulombic Decay in Ne_2

The lifetime of interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) [L. S. Cederbaum et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 4778 (1997)] in Ne_2 is determined via an extreme ultraviolet pump-probe experiment at the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg. The pump pulse creates a 2s inner-shell vacancy in one of the two Ne atoms, whereupon the ionized dimer undergoes ICD resulting in a repulsive Ne^{+}(2p^{-1}) - Ne^{+}(2p^{-1}) state, which is probed with a second pulse, removing a further electron. The yield of coincident Ne^{+} - Ne^{2+} pairs is recorded as a function of the pump-probe delay, allowing us to deduce the ICD lifetime of the Ne_{2}^{+}(2s^{-1}) state to be (150 +/- 50) fs in agreement with quantum calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by PRL on July 11th, 201

Non-sequential triple ionization in strong fields

We consider the final stage of triple ionization of atoms in a strong linearly polarized laser field. We propose that for intensities below the saturation value for triple ionization the process is dominated by the simultaneous escape of three electrons from a highly excited intermediate complex. We identify within a classical model two pathways to triple ionization, one with a triangular configuration of electrons and one with a more linear one. Both are saddles in phase space. A stability analysis indicates that the triangular configuration has the larger cross sections and should be the dominant one. Trajectory simulations within the dominant symmetry subspace reproduce the experimentally observed distribution of ion momenta parallel to the polarization axis.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Pathways to double ionization of atoms in strong fields

We discuss the final stages of double ionization of atoms in a strong linearly polarized laser field within a classical model. We propose that all trajectories leading to non-sequential double ionization pass close to a saddle in phase space which we identify and characterize. The saddle lies in a two degree of freedom subspace of symmetrically escaping electrons. The distribution of longitudinal momenta of ions as calculated within the subspace shows the double hump structure observed in experiments. Including a symmetric bending mode of the electrons allows us to reproduce the transverse ion momenta. We discuss also a path to sequential ionization and show that it does not lead to the observed momentum distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures; fig.6 and 7 exchanged in the final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Photon-Photon and Photon-Hadron Interactions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Colliders

In central collisions at relativistic heavy ion colliders like the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider RHIC/Brookhaven and the Large Hadron Collider LHC (in its heavy ion mode) at CERN/Geneva, one aims at detecting a new form of hadronic matter --- the Quark Gluon Plasma. We discuss here a complementary aspect of these collisions, the very peripheral ones. Due to coherence, there are strong electromagnetic fields of short duration in such collisions. They give rise to photon-photon and photon-nucleus collisions with high flux up to an invariant mass region hitherto unexplored experimentally. After a general survey photon-photon luminosities in relativistic heavy ion collisions are discussed. Then photon-photon physics at various gamma-gamma-invariant mass scales is discussed. The region of several GeV, relevant for RHIC is dominated by QCD phenomena (meson and vector meson pair production). Invariant masses of up to about 100 GeV can be reached at LHC, and the potential for new physics is discussed. Lepton-pair production, especially electron-positron pair production is copious. Due to the strong fields there will be new phenomena, especially multiple e+e- pair production.Comment: 10 pages, Proceedings of the Erice Summer School on Heavy Ion Physics 199