Longitudinal photon-momentum transfer in strong-field double ionization of argon atoms

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Longitudinal photon-momentum transfer in strong-field double ionization of argon atoms

Fenghao Sun, Xiang Chen, Wenbin Zhang, Junjie Qiang, Hui Li, Peifen Lu, Xiaochun Gong, Qinying Ji, Kang Lin, Hanxiao Li, Jihong Tong, Fei Chen, Camilo Ruiz, Jian Wu, and Feng He

Phys. Rev. A 101, 021402(R) – Published 13 February 2020

Abstract

We investigate the longitudinal photon-momentum transfer in nonsequential double ionization of argon atoms exposed to a $2.0 - μ m$ linearly polarized strong laser field. The zero momentum of the photoelectron is precisely calibrated using the photoelectron-photoion coincidence spectrum. The sum-longitudinal momentum of two photoelectrons from the double ionization noticeably deflects along the laser propagation direction, which is opposite to and much larger than that of single ionization. By tracking the electron trajectories for double ionization in semiclassical simulations, we find that the Coulomb focusing of the ionic core with the assistance of the Lorentz pushing of the laser field dominates the observed longitudinal momentum deflection. Our results open the possibility to control the photon-momentum transfer by manipulating the waveform of the laser fields and thus the Coulomb and magnetic effects experienced by the photoelectrons.

Received 30 June 2019
Accepted 27 January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.101.021402

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Multiphoton or tunneling ionization & excitation Ultrafast phenomena

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Fenghao Sun¹, Xiang Chen², Wenbin Zhang¹, Junjie Qiang¹, Hui Li¹, Peifen Lu¹, Xiaochun Gong¹, Qinying Ji¹, Kang Lin¹, Hanxiao Li¹, Jihong Tong¹, Fei Chen ¹, Camilo Ruiz³, Jian Wu^1,4,*, and Feng He^2,†

¹State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
²Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center for IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
³Instituto Universitario de Física Fundamental y Matemáticas, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
⁴Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China

^*jwu@phy.ecnu.edu.cn
^†fhe@sjtu.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 101, Iss. 2 — February 2020

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