821 research outputs found
Non-dipole recollision-gated double ionization and observable effects
Using a three-dimensional semiclassical model, we study double ionization for
strongly-driven He fully accounting for magnetic field effects. For linearly
and slightly elliptically polarized laser fields, we show that recollisions and
the magnetic field combined act as a gate. This gate favors more transverse -
with respect to the electric field - initial momenta of the tunneling electron
that are opposite to the propagation direction of the laser field. In the
absence of non-dipole effects, the transverse initial momentum is symmetric
with respect to zero. We find that this asymmetry in the transverse initial
momentum gives rise to an asymmetry in a double ionization observable. Finally,
we show that this asymmetry in the transverse initial momentum of the tunneling
electron accounts for a recently-reported unexpectedly large average sum of the
electron momenta parallel to the propagation direction of the laser field.Comment: Amended the focus of the paper and discussion. 9 pages, 7 figure
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.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Professor N.B. Delone's memorial
issu
Attosecond control of electrons emitted from a nanoscale metal tip
Attosecond science is based on steering of electrons with the electric field
of well-controlled femtosecond laser pulses. It has led to, for example, the
generation of XUV light pulses with a duration in the sub-100-attosecond
regime, to the measurement of intra-molecular dynamics by diffraction of an
electron taken from the molecule under scrutiny, and to novel ultrafast
electron holography. All these effects have been observed with atoms or
molecules in the gas phase. Although predicted to occur, a strong light-phase
sensitivity of electrons liberated by few-cycle laser pulses from solids has
hitherto been elusive. Here we show a carrier-envelope (C-E) phase-dependent
current modulation of up to 100% recorded in spectra of electrons laser-emitted
from a nanometric tungsten tip. Controlled by the C-E phase, electrons
originate from either one or two sub-500as long instances within the 6-fs laser
pulse, leading to the presence or absence of spectral interference. We also
show that coherent elastic re-scattering of liberated electrons takes place at
the metal surface. Due to field enhancement at the tip, a simple laser
oscillator suffices to reach the required peak electric field strengths,
allowing attosecond science experiments to be performed at the 100-Megahertz
repetition rate level and rendering complex amplified laser systems
dispensable. Practically, this work represents a simple, exquisitely sensitive
C-E phase sensor device, which can be shrunk in volume down to ~ 1cm3. The
results indicate that the above-mentioned novel attosecond science techniques
developed with and for atoms and molecules can also be employed with solids. In
particular, we foresee sub-femtosecond (sub-) nanometre probing of (collective)
electron dynamics, such as plasmon polaritons, in solid-state systems ranging
in size from mesoscopic solids via clusters to single protruding atoms.Comment: Final manuscript version submitted to Natur
Coherent control for the spherical symmetric box potential in short and intensive XUV laser fields
Coherent control calculations are presented for a spherically symmetric box
potential for non-resonant two photon transition probabilities. With the help
of a genetic algorithm (GA) the population of the excited states are maximized
and minimized. The external driving field is a superposition of three intensive
extreme ultraviolet (XUV) linearly polarized laser pulses with different
frequencies in the femtosecond duration range. We solved the quantum mechanical
problem within the dipole approximation. Our investigation clearly shows that
the dynamics of the electron current has a strong correlation with the
optimized and neutralizing pulse shape.Comment: 11 Pages 3 Figure
Relativistic photoelectron spectra in the ionization of atoms by elliptically polarized light
Relativistic tunnel ionization of atoms by intense, elliptically polarized
light is considered. The relativistic version of the Landau-Dykhne formula is
employed. The general analytical expression is obtained for the relativistic
photoelectron spectra. The most probable angle of electron emission, the
angular distribution near this angle, the position of the maximum and the width
of the energy spectrum are calculated. In the weak field limit we obtain the
familiar non-relativistic results. For the case of circular polarization our
analytical results are in agreement with recent derivations of Krainov [V.P.
Krainov, J. Phys. B, {\bf 32}, 1607 (1999)].Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
Effect of electron exchange on atomic ionization in a strong electric field
Hartree-Fock atom in a strong electric static field is considered. It is
demonstrated that exchange between outer and inner electrons, taken into
account by the so-called Fock term affects strongly the long-range behavior of
the inner electron wave function. As a result, it dramatically increases its
probability to be ionized. A simple model is analyzed demonstrating that the
decay probability, compared to the case of a local (Hartree) atomic potential,
increases by many orders of magnitude. As a result of such increase, the ratio
of inner to outer electrons ionization probability became not too small. It is
essential that the effect of exchange upon probability of inner electron
ionization by strong electric field is proportional to the square of the number
of outer electrons. It signals that in clusters the inner electron ionization
by strong field, the very fact of which is manifested by e.g. high energy
quanta emission, has to be essentially increased as compared to this process in
gaseous atomic objects.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
High-order harmonic generation with a strong laser field and an attosecond-pulse train: the Dirac Delta comb and monochromatic limits
In recent publications, it has been shown that high-order harmonic generation
can be manipulated by employing a time-delayed attosecond pulse train
superposed to a strong, near-infrared laser field. It is an open question,
however, which is the most adequate way to approximate the attosecond pulse
train in a semi-analytic framework. Employing the Strong-Field Approximation
and saddle-point methods, we make a detailed assessment of the spectra obtained
by modeling the attosecond pulse train by either a monochromatic wave or a
Dirac-Delta comb. These are the two extreme limits of a real train, which is
composed by a finite set of harmonics. Specifically, in the monochromatic
limit, we find the downhill and uphill sets of orbits reported in the
literature, and analyze their influence on the high-harmonic spectra. We show
that, in principle, the downhill trajectories lead to stronger harmonics, and
pronounced enhancements in the low-plateau region. These features are analyzed
in terms of quantum interference effects between pairs of quantum orbits, and
compared to those obtained in the Dirac-Delta limit.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures (eps files). To appear in Laser Physic
Generation of ultra-short light pulses by a rapidly ionizing thin foil
A thin and dense plasma layer is created when a sufficiently strong laser
pulse impinges on a solid target. The nonlinearity introduced by the
time-dependent electron density leads to the generation of harmonics. The pulse
duration of the harmonic radiation is related to the risetime of the electron
density and thus can be affected by the shape of the incident pulse and its
peak field strength. Results are presented from numerical
particle-in-cell-simulations of an intense laser pulse interacting with a thin
foil target. An analytical model which shows how the harmonics are created is
introduced. The proposed scheme might be a promising way towards the generation
of attosecond pulses.
PACS number(s): 52.40.Nk, 52.50.Jm, 52.65.RrComment: Second Revised Version, 13 pages (REVTeX), 3 figures in ps-format,
submitted for publication to Physical Review E, WWW:
http://www.physik.tu-darmstadt.de/tqe
Attosecond electron thermalization by laser-driven electron recollision in atoms
Nonsequential multiple ionization of atoms in intense laser fields is
initiated by a recollision between an electron, freed by tunneling, and its
parent ion. Following recollision, the initial electron shares its energy with
several bound electrons. We use a classical model based on rapid electron
thermalization to interpret recent experiments. For neon, good agreement with
the available data is obtained with an upper bound of 460 attoseconds for the
thermalization time.Comment: 5 pages revtex and 4 figures (eps files
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.
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