We studied the photoelectron spectra generated by an intense few-cycle
infrared laser pulse. By focusing on the angular distributions of the back
rescattered high energy photoelectrons, we show that accurate differential
elastic scattering cross sections of the target ion by free electrons can be
extracted. Since the incident direction and the energy of the free electrons
can be easily changed by manipulating the laser's polarization, intensity, and
wavelength, these extracted elastic scattering cross sections, in combination
with more advanced inversion algorithms, may be used to reconstruct the
effective single-scattering potential of the molecule, thus opening up the
possibility of using few-cycle infrared lasers as powerful table-top tools for
imaging chemical and biological transformations, with the desired unprecedented
temporal and spatial resolutions.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
