Nonlinear Dichroism in Back-to-Back Double Ionization of He by an Intense Elliptically Polarized Few-Cycle Extreme Ultraviolet Pulse

Control of concerted back-to-back double ionization dynamics in helium

Double ionization (DI) is a fundamental process that despite its apparent simplicity provides rich opportunities for probing and controlling the electronic motion. Even for the simplest multielectron atom, helium, new DI mechanisms are still being found. To first order in the field strength, a strong external field doubly ionizes the electrons in helium such that they are ejected into the same direction (front-to-back motion). The ejection into opposite directions (back-to-back motion) cannot be described to first order, making it a challenging target for control. Here, we address this challenge and optimize the field with the objective of back-to-back double ionization using a (1 + 1)-dimensional model. The optimization is performed using four different control procedures: (1) short-time control, (2) derivative-free optimization of basis expansions of the field, (3) the Krotov method, and (4) control of the classical equations of motion. All four procedures lead to fields with dominant back-to-back motion. All the fields obtained exploit essentially the same two-step mechanism leading to back-to-back motion: first, the electrons are displaced by the field into the same direction. Second, after the field turns off, the nuclear attraction and the electron-electron repulsion combine to generate the final motion into opposite directions for each electron. By performing quasi-classical calculations, we confirm that this mechanism is essentially classical.

Electron vortices in photoionization by circularly polarized attosecond pulses

Single ionization of He by two oppositely circularly polarized, time-delayed attosecond pulses is shown to produce photoelectron momentum distributions in the polarization plane having helical vortex structures sensitive to the time delay between the pulses, their relative phase, and their handedness. Results are obtained by both ab initio numerical solution of the two-electron time-dependent Schrödinger equation and by a lowest-order perturbation theory analysis. The energy, bandwidth, and temporal duration of attosecond pulses are ideal for observing these vortex patterns.