267 research outputs found
Influence of asymmetry and nodal planes on high-harmonic generation in heteronuclear molecules
The relation between high-harmonic spectra and the geometry of the molecular
orbitals in position and momentum space is investigated. In particular we
choose two isoelectronic pairs of homonuclear and heteronuclear molecules, such
that the highest occupied molecular orbital of the former exhibit at least one
nodal plane. The imprint of such planes is a strong suppression in the harmonic
spectra, for particular alignment angles. We are able to identify two distinct
types of nodal planes. If the nodal planes are determined by the atomic
wavefunctions only, the angle for which the yield is suppressed will remain the
same for both types of molecules. In contrast, if they are determined by the
linear combination of atomic orbitals at different centers in the molecule,
there will be a shift in the angle at which the suppression occurs for the
heteronuclear molecules, with regard to their homonuclear counterpart. This
shows that, in principle, molecular imaging, which uses the homonuclear
molecule as a reference and enables one to observe the wavefunction distortions
in its heteronuclear counterpart, is possible.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Figs. 3, 5 and 6 have been simplified in order
to comply with the arXiv size requirement
Laser-induced nonsequential double ionization at and above the recollision-excitation-tunneling threshold
We perform a detailed analysis of the recollision-excitation-tunneling (RESI)
mechanism in laser-induced nonsequential double ionization (NSDI), in which the
first electron, upon return, promotes a second electron to an excited state,
from which it subsequently tunnels, based on the strong-field approximation. We
show that the shapes of the electron momentum distributions carry information
about the bound-state with which the first electron collides, the bound state
to which the second electron is excited, and the type of electron-electron
interaction. Furthermore, one may define a driving-field intensity threshold
for the RESI physical mechanism. At the threshold, the kinetic energy of the
first electron, upon return, is just sufficient to excite the second electron.
We compute the distributions for helium and argon in the threshold and
above-threshold intensity regime. In the latter case, we relate our findings to
existing experiments. The electron-momentum distributions encountered are
symmetric with respect to all quadrants of the plane spanned by the momentum
components parallel to the laser-field polarization, instead of concentrating
on only the second and fourth quadrants.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
The quantum brachistochrone problem for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians
Recently Bender, Brody, Jones and Meister found that in the quantum brachistochrone problem the passage time needed for the evolution of certain initial states into specified final states can be made arbitrarily small, when the time-evolution operator is taken to be non-Hermitian but PT-symmetric. Here we demonstrate that such phenomena can also be obtained for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians for which PT-symmetry is completely broken, i.e. dissipative systems. We observe that the effect of a tunable passage time can be achieved by projecting between orthogonal eigenstates by means of a time-evolution operator associated with a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. It is not essential that this Hamiltonian is PT-symmetric
Enhancement of bichromatic high-harmonic generation with a high-frequency field
Using a high-frequency field superposed to a linearly polarized bichromatic
laser field composed by a wave with frequency and a wave with
frequency , we show it is possible to enhance the intensity of a
group of high harmonics in orders of magnitude. These harmonics have
frequencies about 30% higher than the monochromatic-cutoff frequency, and,
within the three-step-model framework, correspond to a set of electron
trajectories for which tunneling ionization is strongly suppressed. Particular
features in the observed enhancement suggest that the high-frequency field
provides an additional mechanism for the electron to reach the continuum. This
interpretation is supported by a time-frequency analysis of the harmonic yield.
The additional high frequency field permits the control of this group of
harmonics leaving all other sets of harmonics practically unchanged, which is
an advantage over schemes involving only bichromatic fields.Comment: 6 pages RevTex, 5 figures (ps files), Changes in text, figures,
references and equations include
Existence criteria for stabilization from the scaling behaviour of ionization probabilities
We provide a systematic derivation of the scaling behaviour of various
quantities and establish in particular the scale invariance of the ionization
probability. We discuss the gauge invariance of the scaling properties and the
manner in which they can be exploited as consistency check in explicit
analytical expressions, in perturbation theory, in the Kramers-Henneberger and
Floquet approximation, in upper and lower bound estimates and fully numerical
solutions of the time dependent Schroedinger equation. The scaling invariance
leads to a differential equation which has to be satisfied by the ionization
probability and which yields an alternative criterium for the existence of
atomic bound state stabilization.Comment: 12 pages of Latex, one figur
High-harmonic generation from a confined atom
The order of high harmonics emitted by an atom in an intense laser field is
limited by the so-called cutoff frequency. Solving the time-dependent
Schr\"odinger equation, we show that this frequency can be increased
considerably by a parabolic confining potential, if the confinement parameters
are suitably chosen.
Furthermore, due to confinement, the radiation intensity remains high
throughout the extended emission range. All features observed can be explained
with classical arguments.Comment: 4 pages(tex files), 4 figures(eps files); added references and
comment
Controlling high-harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization with an attosecond-pulse train
We perform a detailed analysis of how high-order harmonic generation (HHG)
and above-threshold ionization (ATI) can be controlled by a time-delayed
attosecond-pulse train superposed to a strong, near-infrared laser field. In
particular we show that the high-harmonic and photoelectron intensities, the
high-harmonic plateau structure and cutoff energies, and the ATI angular
distributions can be manipulated by changing this delay. This is a direct
consequence of the fact that the attosecond pulse train can be employed as a
tool for constraining the instant an electronic wave packet is ejected in the
continuum. A change in such initial conditions strongly affects its subsequent
motion in the laser field, and thus HHG and ATI. In our studies, we employ the
Strong-Field Approximation and explain the features observed in terms of
interference effects between various electron quantum orbits. Our results are
in agreement with recent experimental findings and theoretical studies
employing purely numerical methods.Comment: 10 pages revtex and 6 figures (eps files
Classical and quantum-mechanical treatments of nonsequential double ionization with few-cycle laser pulses
We address nonsequential double ionization induced by strong, linearly
polarized laser fields of only a few cycles, considering a physical mechanism
in which the second electron is dislodged by the inelastic collision of the
first electron with its parent ion. The problem is treated classically, using
an ensemble model, and quantum-mechanically, within the strong-field and
uniform saddle-point approximations. In the latter case, the results are
interpreted in terms of "quantum orbits", which can be related to the
trajectories of a classical electron in an electric field. We obtain highly
asymmetric electron momentum distributions, which strongly depend on the
absolute phase, i.e., on the phase difference between the pulse envelope and
its carrier frequency. Around a particular value of this parameter, the
distributions shift from the region of positive to that of negative momenta, or
vice-versa, in a radical fashion. This behavior is investigated in detail for
several driving-field parameters, and provides a very efficient method for
measuring the absolute phase. Both models yield very similar distributions,
which share the same physical explanation. There exist, however, minor
discrepancies due to the fact that, beyond the region for which electron-impact
ionization is classically allowed, the yields from the quantum mechanical
computation decay exponentially, whereas their classical counterparts vanish.Comment: 12 pages revtex, 12 figures (eps files
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