We investigate the angular distribution of electrons that are emitted in the ionization of hydrogen-like ions by twisted photons. Analysis is performed based on the first-order perturbation theory and the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation. Special attention is paid to the dependence of the electron emission pattern on the impact parameter b of the ion with respect to the centre of the twisted wave front. In order to explore such a dependence, detailed calculations were carried out for the photoionization of the 1s ground and 2 py excited states of neutral hydrogen atoms. Based on these calculations, we argue that for relatively small impact parameters the electron angular distributions may be strongly affected by altering the position of the atom within the wave front. In contrast, if the atom is placed far from the front centre, the emission pattern of the electrons is independent on the impact parameter b and resembles that observed in the photoionization by plane wave photons.
We investigate the discrete orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photoelectrons freed in strongfield ionization. We use these `twisted' electrons to provide an alternative interpretation on existing experimental work of vortex interferences caused by strong field ionization mediated by two counterrotating circularly polarized pulses separated by a delay. Using the strong field approximation, we derive an interference condition for the vortices. In computations for a neon target we find very good agreement of the vortex condition with photoelectron momentum distributions computed with the strong f…
We study the resonant sequential two-photon ionization of neutral atoms by a combination of twisted- and plane-wave light within a fully relativistic framework. In particular, the ionization of an isotropic ensemble of neutral sodium atoms ($Z = 11$) from their ground $3^{2}S_{1/2}$ state via the $3^{2}P_{3/2}$ level is considered. We investigate in details the influence of the kinematic parameters of incoming twisted radiation on the photoelectron angular distribution and the circular dichroism. Moreover we study the influence of the geometry of the process on these quantities. This is perfor…
Ionization collisions have important consequences in many physical phenomena, and the mechanism that leads to ionization is not universal. Double differential cross sections (DDCSs) are often used to identify ionization mechanisms because they exhibit features that distinguish close collisions from grazing collisions. In the angular DDCS, a sharp peak indicates ionization through a close binary collision, while a broad angular distribution points to a grazing collision. In the DDCS energy spectrum, electrons ejected through a binary encounter collision result in peak at an energy predicted fro…
We present a theoretical investigation of the radiative recombination of twisted Bessel electrons with initially hydrogen-like (finally helium-like) heavy ions. In our study, we focus especially on the linear polarization of x-ray photons emitted in the electron capture into the ground $1s^2_{1/2}$ ionic state. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of how this polarization is affected if incident hydrogen-like ions are themselves spin-polarized. To explore such a "polarization transfer" we apply the density matrix theory and derive the Stokes parameters of recombination x-rays for the …
Electron vortex beams (EVB, also known as twisted electron beams) possess an intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM) with respect to their propagation direction. This intrinsic OAM represents a new degree of freedom that provides new insights into investigating the dynamics of electron impact ionization. In this communication, we present, in the first-Born approximation (FBA), the angular profiles of the triple differential cross-section (TDCS) for the (e, 2e) process on CH4 and NH3 molecular targets in the coplanar asymmetric geometry. We compare the TDCS of the EVB for different values of O…
In this communication, we present the results of the triple differential cross-section (TDCS) for the (e,2e) process on H2O molecule for the plane wave and the twisted electron beam impact. The formalism is developed in the first Born approximation. We describe the plane/twisted wave, plane wave, the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) (self-consistent field LCAO method) and Coulomb wave for the incident electron, scattered electron, the molecular state of H2O, and the ejected electron, respectively. We investigate the angular profiles of the TDCS for the outer orbitals 1B1, 3A1, 1B2,…
We present the angular profiles of the triple differential cross-section (TDCS) for the (e,2e) process on the noble gas atoms, namely He (1s), Ne (2s and 2p), and Ar (3p) for the plane wave and the twisted electron impact. We develop the theoretical formalism in the first-born approximation. The present study compares the TDCS for different values of orbital angular momentum number $m$ and opening angles $θ_p$ of the twisted electron beam with that of the plane wave beam. In addition, we also investigate the TDCS for macroscopic atomic targets to explore the influence of opening angle $θ_p$ of…
In this communication, we present the results of the Five-fold Differential Cross Section (5DCS) and Triple Differential Cross Section (TDCS) for the (e,2e) process on molecular hydrogen ($H_2$) by the plane wave and the twisted electron beam impact. The formalism is developed within the first Born approximation using the plane wave and the twisted wave for the incident electron beam. We describe the plane wave, Heitler-London type wave function and Coulomb wave for the scattered electron, $H_2$ molecular state, and the ejected electron respectively. We compare the angular profiles of the 5DCS…
We present a fully relativistic calculation of the bremsstrahlung emitted by twisted electrons propagating in the field of bare heavy nuclei. The electron-nucleus interaction is accounted for to all orders in the nuclear binding strength parameter $αZ$, thus allowing us to investigate the bremsstrahlung in a strong field, where the effects of the "twistedness" are expected to be most pronounced. To explore these effects, we study the angular and polarization properties of the photons emitted in course of the inelastic twisted electrons scattering by the gold target. The influence of the kinema…
Tables of experimental branching ratios of Auger-type post collisional ionization of rare gases
当电子从次价壳层发射时，产生空位，并且对于不同的碰撞后电离（PCI）过程存在非零概率，从而产生更高的目标电荷状态。可以合理地认为，PCI是一种时间延迟的电子发射，因此与射弹无关。给出了Ne、Ar、Kr和Ar在不同内壳层单电离后，$0-6$碰撞后发射电子的分支比表。这些值已经在以前计算稀有气体的电子、正电子、质子、反质子和不同的正离子的多重电离中得到了很好的结果（见本文和参考文献）。这些表格和解释包含在[Montanari C C and Miraglia J E 2014，\textit{J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.} { \bf 45}，105203]中。
A new High Harmonic Generation (HHG) scheme, which doesn't rely on Tunnel-Ionization as the ionization mechanism but rather on Single-Photon Ionization, is theoretically proposed and numerically demonstrated. The scheme uses two driver fields: an extreme-ultraviolet driver which induces the ionization, and a circularly-polarized, co-rotating, two-color infrared driver carried at a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic which induces the recollision. Using Classical and time-dependent Schrödinger equation simulations of a model Argon atom, we show that in this scheme ionization is essent…
We present a new and efficient method of generating twisted gamma rays utilizing highly accelerated helium-like ions; they are excited to a chosen state by irradiating two optical lasers and emit a photon with orbital angular momentum in the deexcitation process. We study its emission rate together with other properties such as background and photo-ionization processes.
The photoelectric effect describes the ejection of an electron upon absorption of one or several photons. The kinetic energy of this electron is determined by the photon energy reduced by the binding energy of the electron and, if strong laser fields are involved, by the ponderomotive potential in addition. It has therefore been widely taken for granted that for atoms and molecules the photoelectron energy does not depend on the electron's emission direction but theoretical studies have questioned this since 1990. Here we provide experimental evidence, that the energies of photoelectrons emitt…
We report on the unambiguous observation of the sub-cycle ionization bursts in sequential strong-field double ionization of H$_2$ and their disentanglement in molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions. This observation was made possible by the use of few-cycle laser pulses with a known carrier-envelope phase in combination with multi-particle coincidence momentum imaging. The approach demonstrated here will allow sampling of the intramolecular electron dynamics and the investigation of charge-state specific Coulomb-distortions on emitted electrons in polyatomic molecules.
Double ionization of an atom by single-photon absorption in the presence of a neighbouring atom is studied. The latter is, first, resonantly photoexcited and, afterwards, transfers the excitation energy radiationlessly to the other atom, leading to its double ionization. The process relies on the combined effect of interatomic and intraatomic electron correlations. It can dominate over the direct double photoionization by several orders of magnitude at interatomic distances up to few nanometers. The relative position of the neighbouring atom is shown to exert a characteristic influence on the …
We consider photo ionization of an atom which, due to passing through a diffraction grating, is prepared in a multi-site state possessing a periodic space structure with alternating maxima and minima. It has been found that this process qualitatively differs from photo ionization of a 'normal' atom. In particular, the spectra of emitted electrons and recoil ions in this process display clear one- and two-particle interference effects. Moreover, there are also striking differences between the momentum distributions of these particles, which no longer mirror each other. The origin of all these f…
Ultrafast imaging of molecular chirality is a key step towards the dream of imaging and interpreting electronic dynamics in complex and biologically relevant molecules. Here, we propose a new ultrafast chiral phenomenon exploiting recent advances in electron optics allowing access to the orbital angular momentum of free electrons. We show that strong-field ionization of a chiral target with a few-cycle linearly polarized 800 nm laser pulse yields photoelectron vortices, whose chirality reveals that of the target, and we discuss the mechanism underlying this phenomenon. Our work opens new persp…
Bicircular twisted Laguerre-Gaussian beams possess a definite torus knot angular momentum (TKAM) as a new form of angular momentum. TKAM is conserved in nonlinear atomic processes such as high harmonic generation and can be classified by a time delay parameter $τ$ and a coordination parameter $γ$. These parameters are defined by the respective projected orbital angular momentum and the energy of the two superimposed Laguerre-Gaussian beams. We derive a consistent geometric method to determine $τ$ and $γ$ from the driving beam as well as from the high harmonic radiation. This method relates bot…
Time-resolving the birth of photoelectrons in strong-filed ionization with an isolated attosecond pulse
School of Physical Sciences, Great Bay University（大湾大学物理科学学院）；School of Physics and Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology（华中科技大学物理学院与武汉光电国家研究中心）；Research Center for Advanced Optics and Photoelectronics, Department of Physics, College of Science, Shantou University（汕头大学理学院物理系先进光学与光电子学研究中心）
Strong-field ionization of atoms with bright squeezed vacuum light
Peking University（北京大学）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University（山西大学极端光学协同创新中心）；Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics（北京大学长三角光电科学研究院）
We have designed a Euler approximation Monte-Carlo code for the calculation of the ionization of atomic hydrogen by protons with energies between 0.05 and 1.0 MeV. This code is used to calculate the total ionization cross sections s(E), the angular distribution double differential cross sections d2s/ (dW - dE) for electrons with energies of 150 eV ionized by 300 keV protons and the energy distribution d2s/ (dW - dE) for the ionized electrons emitted at 10o by protons of energy 300 keV. Our calculations are compared to experimental values of these quantities as well as independent calculations.…
The ionization of atoms with sequences of attosecond pulses gives rise to excited ionic states that are entangled with the emitted photoelectron. Still, the ionic ensemble preserves some coherence that can be controlled through the laser parameters. In helium, control of the $2s/2p$ He$^+$ coherence is mediated by the autoionizing states below the $N=2$ threshold [Phys. Rev. Res. {\bf 3}, 023233 (2021)]. In the present work we study the role of the resonances both below and above the $N=3$ threshold on the coherence of the $N=3$ He$^+$ ion, in the attosecond pump-probe ionization of the helium…
We analyze interference processes in atomic ionization induced by a two-color laser with fundamental frequency $ω$ and its second harmonic $2ω$. The interplay between inter- and intracycle interference processes give rise to multiphoton peaks which can be named as main or ATI peaks and sidebands, in analogy to the well-known RABBIT (reconstruction of attosecond harmonic beating by interference of two-photon transitions). We use the saddle point approximation (SPA) to extract the complex ionization times of the interfering electron trajectories. Changing the relative phase between the two color…
We calculate two-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions and energy spectra after multiphoton ionization of Li atoms subject to intense laser fields in one-photon Rabi-flopping regime. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved within the single-active-electron approximation using a model potential which reproduces accurately the binding energies and dipole matrix elements of the Li atom. Interaction with the external electromagnetic field is treated within the dipole approximation. We show that the Rabi oscillations of the population between the ground $2s$ state and the excit…
An all-optical, near-resonant laser atom trap is used to prepare an electronically excited and polarized gas target at mK-temperature for complete photo-ionization studies. As a proof-of-principal experiment, lithium atoms in the 2$^2$P$_{3/2}$($m_l$=+1) state are ionized by a 266 nm laser source, and emitted electrons and Li$^+$ ions are momentum analyzed in a COLTRIMS spectrometer. The excellent resolution achieved in the present experiment allows not only to extract the relative phase and amplitude of all partial waves contributing to the final state, it also enables to characterize the exp…
Compton scattering is one of the fundamental interaction processes of light with matter. Already upon its discovery [1] it was described as a billiard-type collision of a photon kicking a quasi-free electron. With decreasing photon energy, the maximum possible momentum transfer becomes so small that the corresponding energy falls below the binding energy of the electron. Then ionization by Compton scattering becomes an intriguing quantum phenomenon. Here we report a kinematically complete experiment on Compton scattering at helium atoms below that threshold. We determine the momentum correlati…
Many atomic processes result in the emission of photons. Analysis of the properties of emitted photons, such as energy and angular distribution as well as polarization, is regarded as a powerful tool for gaining more insight into the physics of corresponding processes. Another characteristic of light is the projection of its angular momentum upon propagation direction. This property has attracted a special attention over the last decades due to studies of twisted (or vortex) light beams. Measurements being sensitive to this projection may provide valuable information about the role of angular …
We use a Wigner distribution-like function based on the strong field approximation theory to obtain the time-energy distributions and the ionization time distributions of electrons ionized by an XUV pulse alone and in the presence of an infrared (IR) pulse. In the case of a single XUV pulse, although the overall shape of the ionization time distribution resembles the XUV-envelope, its detail shows dependence on the emission direction of the electron and the carrier-envelope phase of the pulse, which mainly results from the low-energy interference structure. It is further found that the electro…
