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Cheng CC, Sun Y, Li ZA, Liu ST, Liu XS. Control of the spider-like interference structure in photoelectron momentum distributions of a helium atom in a few-cycle nonlinear chirped laser pulse. OPTICS EXPRESS 2024; 32:5273-5286. [PMID: 38439259 DOI: 10.1364/oe.513579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
We investigate theoretically the photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) of the helium atom in the few-cycle nonlinear chirped laser pulse. The numerical results show that the direction of the spider-like interference structure in PMDs exhibits periodic variations with the increase of the chirp parameter. It is illustrated that the direction of the spider-like interference structure is related to the direction of the electron motion by tracking the trajectories of the electrons. We also demonstrate that the carrier-envelope phase can precisely control the opening of the ionization channel. In addition, we investigate the PMDs when a chirp-free second harmonic (SH) laser pulse is added to the chirped laser field, the numerical results show that the interference patterns can change from only spider-like interference structure to both spider-like and ring-like interference structures.
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2
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Pan S, Zhang Z, Hu C, Lu P, Gong X, Gong R, Zhang W, Zhou L, Lu C, Shi M, Jiang Z, Ni H, He F, Wu J. Wave-Packet Surface Propagation for Light-Induced Molecular Dynamics. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:033201. [PMID: 38307062 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.033201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
Recent advances in laser technology have enabled tremendous progress in light-induced molecular reactions, at the heart of which the breaking and formation of chemical bonds are located. Such progress has been greatly facilitated by the development of an accurate quantum-mechanical simulation method, which, however, does not necessarily accompany clear dynamical scenarios and is rather computationally heavy. Here, we develop a wave-packet surface propagation (WASP) approach to describe the molecular bond-breaking dynamics from a hybrid quantum-classical perspective. Via the introduction of quantum elements including state transitions and phase accumulations to the Newtonian propagation of the nuclear wave packet, the WASP approach naturally comes with intuitive physical scenarios and accuracies. It is carefully benchmarked with the H_{2}^{+} molecule and is shown to be capable of precisely reproducing experimental observations. The WASP method is promising for the intuitive visualization of light-induced molecular dynamics and is straightforward extensible towards complex molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengzhe Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Zhaohan Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Chenxi Hu
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Peifen Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Xiaochun Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Ruolin Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Wenbin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Lianrong Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Chenxu Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Menghang Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Zhejun Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Hongcheng Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Feng He
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai 201800, China
| | - Jian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai 201800, China
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Precision Optics, Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University, Chongqing 401121, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
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3
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Tong J, Pan S, Jiang W, Han L, Xu Y, Zuo Z, Lu P, Gong X, Wu J. Identifying photoelectron releasing order in strong-field dissociative ionization of H 2. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:25467-25476. [PMID: 37710432 DOI: 10.1364/oe.495066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Driven by intense laser fields, the outgoing photoelectrons in molecules possess a quiver motion, resulting in the rise of the effective ionization potential. The coupling of the field-dressed ionization potential with abundant molecular dynamics complicates the laser-molecule interactions. Here, we demonstrate an approach to resolve photoelectron releasing order in the dissociative and non-dissociative channels of multiphoton ionization driven by an orthogonally polarized two-color femtosecond laser pulse. The photoelectron kinetic energy releases and the regular nodes in the photoelectron angular distributions due to the participation of different continuum partial waves allow us to deduce the field-dressed ionization potential of various channels. It returns the ponderomotive energy experienced by the outgoing electron and reveals the corresponding photoionization instants within the laser pulse. Our results provide a route to explore the complex strong-field ionization dynamics of molecules using two-dimensional photoelectron momentum spectroscopy.
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4
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Hanus V, Kangaparambil S, Richter M, Haßfurth L, Dorner-Kirchner M, Paulus GG, Xie X, Baltuška A, Gräfe S, Zeiler M. Carrier envelope phase sensitivity of photoelectron circular dichroism. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:4656-4666. [PMID: 36722912 PMCID: PMC9906976 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp03077b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
We report on a combined experimental and numerical study of photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) induced by intense few-cycle laser pulses, using methyloxirane as the molecular example. Our experiments reveal a remarkably pronounced sensitivity of the PECD strength of double-ionization on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the laser pulses. By comparison to the simulations, which reproduce the measured CEP-dependence for specific orientations of the molecules in the lab frame, we attribute the origin of the observed CEP-dependence of PECD to the CEP-induced modulation of ionization from different areas of the wave functions of three dominant orbitals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Václav Hanus
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria. .,Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Martin Richter
- Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 4, 07743 Jena, Germany. .,Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Lukas Haßfurth
- Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 4, 07743 Jena, Germany. .,Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | | | - Gerhard G. Paulus
- Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena07743 JenaGermany
| | - Xinhua Xie
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria. .,SwissFEL, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Andrius Baltuška
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Stefanie Gräfe
- Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 4, 07743 Jena, Germany. .,Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Markus Zeiler
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
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5
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Krebs BS, Tulsky V, Kazak L, Zabel M, Bauer D, Tiggesbäumker J. Phase-of-the-Phase Electron Momentum Spectroscopy on Single Metal Atoms in Helium Nanodroplets. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:1526-1532. [PMID: 35133167 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Magnesium atoms fully embedded in helium nanodroplets are exposed to two-color laser pulses, which trigger multiphoton above-threshold ionization (ATI). This allows exemplary study of the contribution of a dense, neutral, and finite medium on single electron propagation. The angular-resolved photoelectron spectra show striking differences with respect to results obtained on free atoms. Scattering of the individual Mg photoelectrons, when traversing the neutral helium environment, causes the angular distribution to become almost isotropic. Furthermore, the appearance of higher-energy electrons is observed, indicating the impact of the droplet on the concerted emission process. Phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy, however, reveals a marked loss in the 2ω-ω phase dependence of the electron signal. Taking into account sideband formation on a quantitative level, a Monte Carlo simulation which includes laser-assisted electron scattering can reproduce the experimental spectra and give insights into the strong-field-induced electron emission from disordered systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bennet S Krebs
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
- Department "Life, Light and Matter", University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Vasily Tulsky
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Lev Kazak
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Michael Zabel
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
- Department "Life, Light and Matter", University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Dieter Bauer
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
| | - Josef Tiggesbäumker
- Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
- Department "Life, Light and Matter", University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
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6
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Chen JH, Ben S, Zhen Q, Sun Y, Liu XS. Photoelectron interference of He atoms in the attosecond ionization gating. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:5095-5106. [PMID: 35209479 DOI: 10.1364/oe.448948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We theoretically investigate the photoelectron momentum distribution of He atoms by numerically solving the time-dependent Schro¨dinger equation (TDSE) in few-cycle ionization gating, which is synthesized by two linearly polarized laser pulses. When applying the TDSE, we can clearly see the spider-like structures in the photoelectron momentum spectra. We also find that the spider-like structures can be isolated by changing the relative phase. The directionality of the spider-like structure is changed from right-side to left-side and the ring-like interference structure gradually appears in the photoelectron momentum spectra when increasing the relative phase. The interference patterns observed in TDSE are recaptured well by the quantum-trajectory Monte Carlo (QTMC) model. We separate the ionization time window of the tunneling electron by analyzing the ionization rate. With the help of QTMC simulation, we illustrate the change of the interference structure and its directionality in the photoelectron momentum spectra. By changing the relative phase, the forward-backward asymmetry of the momentum distribution of the emitted electrons can also be controlled. Moreover, we find that the relative contribution of the nonrescattering and the rescattering trajectories can be controlled. These properties are beneficial for the application of photoelecron holography in probing atomic and molecular structures and dynamics.
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7
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Wang Y, Lai X, Yu S, Sun R, Liu X, Dorner-Kirchner M, Erattupuzha S, Larimian S, Koch M, Hanus V, Kangaparambil S, Paulus G, Baltuška A, Xie X, Kitzler-Zeiler M. Laser-Induced Electron Transfer in the Dissociative Multiple Ionization of Argon Dimers. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 125:063202. [PMID: 32845670 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.125.063202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We report on an experimental and theoretical study of the ionization-fragmentation dynamics of argon dimers in intense few-cycle laser pulses with a tagged carrier-envelope phase. We find that a field-driven electron transfer process from one argon atom across the system boundary to the other argon atom triggers subcycle electron-electron interaction dynamics in the neighboring atom. This attosecond electron-transfer process between distant entities and its implications manifests itself as a distinct phase-shift between the measured asymmetry of electron emission curves of the Ar^{+}+Ar^{2+} and Ar^{2+}+Ar^{2+} fragmentation channels. This letter discloses a strong-field route to controlling the dynamics in molecular compounds through the excitation of electronic dynamics on a distant molecule by driving intermolecular electron-transfer processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- YanLan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - XuanYang Lai
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - ShaoGang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - RenPing Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - XiaoJun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | | | - Sonia Erattupuzha
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Seyedreza Larimian
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Koch
- Institute of Experimental Physics, Graz University of Technology, A-8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Václav Hanus
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Gerhard Paulus
- Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Andrius Baltuška
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Xinhua Xie
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
- SwissFEL, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
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8
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Kangaparambil S, Hanus V, Dorner-Kirchner M, He P, Larimian S, Paulus G, Baltuška A, Xie X, Yamanouchi K, He F, Lötstedt E, Kitzler-Zeiler M. Generalized Phase Sensitivity of Directional Bond Breaking in the Laser-Molecule Interaction. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 125:023202. [PMID: 32701337 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.125.023202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We establish a generalized picture of the phase sensitivity of laser-induced directional bond breaking using the H_{2} molecule as the example. We show that the well-known proton ejection anisotropy measured with few-cycle pulses as a function of their carrier-envelope phases arises as an amplitude modulation of an intrinsic anisotropy that is sensitive to the laser phase at the ionization time and determined by the molecule's electronic structure. Our work furthermore reveals a strong electron-proton correlation that may open up a new approach to experimentally accessing the laser-sub-cycle intramolecular electron dynamics also in larger molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Václav Hanus
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Peilun He
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas and School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | | | - Gerhard Paulus
- Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Andrius Baltuška
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Xinhua Xie
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Kaoru Yamanouchi
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Feng He
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas and School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Erik Lötstedt
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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9
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He PL, Zhang ZH, He F. Young's Double-Slit Interference in a Hydrogen Atom. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 124:163201. [PMID: 32383919 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.124.163201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate the possibility of realizing Young's double-slit interference in a hydrogen atom via ab initio simulations. By exposing the hydrogen atom to a high-frequency intensive laser pulse, the bound state distorts into a dichotomic Kramers-Henneberger state whose photoelectron momentum distribution imprints a double-slit interference structure. The dichotomic hydrogen atom presents molecular peculiarities, such as charge-resonance enhanced ionization, electron spin flipping due to the non-Abelian Berry phase. In return, the photoelectron momentum distribution carrying the double-slit interference structure provides unambiguous evidence on the existence of Kramers-Henneberger states, and thus the adiabatic stabilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Lun He
- Key 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
| | - Zhao-Han Zhang
- Key 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
| | - Feng He
- Key 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
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai, 201800, China
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10
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Hanus V, Kangaparambil S, Larimian S, Dorner-Kirchner M, Xie X, Schöffler MS, Paulus GG, Baltuška A, Staudte A, Kitzler-Zeiler M. Experimental Separation of Subcycle Ionization Bursts in Strong-Field Double Ionization of H_{2}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 124:103201. [PMID: 32216425 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.124.103201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We report on the unambiguous observation of the subcycle 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 multiparticle 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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Václav Hanus
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Seyedreza Larimian
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Xinhua Xie
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
- SwissFEL, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Markus S Schöffler
- Institut für Kernphysik, Goethe-Universität, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Gerhard G Paulus
- Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Andrius Baltuška
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - André Staudte
- Joint Attosecond Science Lab of the National Research Council and the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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11
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Figueira de Morisson Faria C, Maxwell AS. It is all about phases: ultrafast holographic photoelectron imaging. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2020; 83:034401. [PMID: 31778986 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ab5c91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Photoelectron holography constitutes a powerful tool for the ultrafast imaging of matter, as it combines high electron currents with subfemtosecond resolution, and gives information about transition amplitudes and phase shifts. Similarly to light holography, it uses the phase difference between the probe and the reference waves associated with qualitatively different ionization events for the reconstruction of the target and for ascertaining any changes that may occur. These are major advantages over other attosecond imaging techniques, which require elaborate interferometric schemes in order to extract phase differences. For that reason, ultrafast photoelectron holography has experienced a huge growth in activity, which has led to a vast, but fragmented landscape. The present review is an organizational effort towards unifying this landscape. This includes a historic account in which a connection with laser-induced electron diffraction is established, a summary of the main holographic structures encountered and their underlying physical mechanisms, a broad discussion of the theoretical methods employed, and of the key challenges and future possibilities. We delve deeper in our own work, and place a strong emphasis on quantum interference, and on the residual Coulomb potential.
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12
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Agueny H. Quantum control and characterization of ultrafast ionization with orthogonal two-color laser pulses. Sci Rep 2020; 10:239. [PMID: 31937810 PMCID: PMC6959349 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-57125-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We study ultrafast ionization dynamics using orthogonally polarized two-color (OTC) laser pulses involving the resonant "first plus second" (ω + 2ω) scheme. The scheme is illustrated by numerical simulations of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and recording the photoelectron momentum distribution. On the basis of the simulations of this resonant ionization, we identify signatures of the dynamic Autler-Townes effect and dynamic interference, in which their characterization is not possible in the spectral domain. Taking advantage of the OTC scheme we show that these dynamical effects, which occur at the same time scale, can be characterized in momentum space by controlling the spatial quantum interference. In particular, we show that with the use of this control scheme, one can tailor the properties of the control pulse to lead to enhancement of the ionization rate through the Autler-Townes effect without affecting the dynamic interference. This enhancement is shown to result from constructive interferences between partial photoelectron waves having opposite-parity, and found to manifest by symmetry-breaking of the momentum distribution. The scenario is investigated for a prototype of a hydrogen atom and is broadly applicable to other systems. Our findings may have applications for photoelectron interferometers to control the electron dynamics in time and space, and for accurate temporal characterization of attosecond pulses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hicham Agueny
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Allegt. 55, N-5007, Bergen, Norway.
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13
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Hanus V, Kangaparambil S, Larimian S, Dorner-Kirchner M, Xie X, Schöffler MS, Paulus GG, Baltuška A, Staudte A, Kitzler-Zeiler M. Subfemtosecond Tracing of Molecular Dynamics during Strong-Field Interaction. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 123:263201. [PMID: 31951453 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.123.263201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We introduce and experimentally demonstrate a method where the two intrinsic timescales of a molecule, the slow nuclear motion and the fast electronic motion, are simultaneously measured in a photoelectron photoion coincidence experiment. In our experiment, elliptically polarized, 750 nm, 4.5 fs laser pulses were focused to an intensity of 9×10^{14} W/cm^{2} onto H_{2}. Using coincidence imaging, we directly observe the nuclear wave packet evolving on the 1sσ_{g} state of H_{2}^{+} during its first round-trip with attosecond temporal and picometer spatial resolution. The demonstrated method should enable insight into the first few femtoseconds of the vibronic dynamics of ionization-induced unimolecular reactions of larger molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Václav Hanus
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria, EU
| | | | - Seyedreza Larimian
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria, EU
| | | | - Xinhua Xie
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria, EU
- SwissFEL, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Markus S Schöffler
- Institut für Kernphysik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany, EU
| | - Gerhard G Paulus
- Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany, EU
| | - Andrius Baltuška
- Photonics Institute, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria, EU
| | - André Staudte
- Joint Laboratory for Attosecond Science of the National Research Council and the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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14
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Agueny H, Taoutioui A, Adnani Y, Makhoute A. Manipulating dynamical Rabi-splitting with two-color laser pulses. OPTICS EXPRESS 2019; 27:21020-21028. [PMID: 31510187 DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.021020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We theoretically investigate strong-field ionization of hydrogen atoms by orthogonally polarized two-color (OTC) laser pulses consisting of a fundamental field that is resonant with the 1s - 2p transition and its second harmonic. Numerical simulations are performed by solving the two-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation and recording the photoelectron momentum distribution. In this strong-field resonant ionization, the atom undergoes many Rabi cycles and the electron can be emitted within a completed Rabi-cycle leading to the splitting of the localized momentum distribution. Here, the splitting is attributed to dynamic Rabi-splitting as a result of the dynamic Stark effect. The employed OTC scheme is shown to be efficient for controlling the dynamic Rabi-splitting through the control of quantum-path interferences involved in one-photon and two-photon absorption processes. The control scheme is accomplished by varying the relative ratio intensity and optical phase between the two pulses, and its footprint is mapped in the momentum distribution. This is shown to lead to an asymmetric distribution and suppression of the ionization process. The obtained results suggest the OTC scheme as a tool for coherent control of dynamic Rabi-oscillations via the controlled quantum-path interferences, thus opening new directions towards designing quantum states via the control OTC scheme.
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15
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Sun R, Lai X, Yu S, Wang Y, Xu S, Quan W, Liu X. Tomographic Extraction of the Internuclear Separation Based on Two-Center Interference with Aligned Diatomic Molecules. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:193202. [PMID: 31144971 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.193202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We experimentally investigate the two-dimensional photoelectron momentum spectra of aligned diatomic molecules in an intense laser field. Our results reveal a novel prominent valley structure in the molecular alignment dependence of the high-energy photoelectron spectra along the laser polarization. Resorting to the molecular strong-field approximation and a simple semiclassical analysis, we show that this valley structure stems from the destructive two-center interference of the laser-driven rescattered electrons in diatomic molecules. Based on this two-center interference with aligned diatomic molecules, we demonstrate for the first time a tomographic method to extract the molecular internuclear separation, providing a more straightforward approach of molecular imaging, in comparison with, e.g., laser-induced electron diffraction and fixed-angle broadband laser-driven electron scattering.
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Affiliation(s)
- RenPing Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
- School of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - XuanYang Lai
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - ShaoGang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
- School of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - YanLan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - SongPo Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
- School of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wei Quan
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - XiaoJun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
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Ge P, Han M, Deng Y, Gong Q, Liu Y. Universal Description of the Attoclock with Two-Color Corotating Circular Fields. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:013201. [PMID: 31012680 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.013201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We experimentally measure the laser-intensity-dependent photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) of Ar atoms with two-color (ω+2ω) corotating circularly polarized fields. The interference patterns on PMDs reveal complex structures with respect to the laser intensity ratio. The main above-threshold ionization peaks and sidebands on PMD distribute oppositely when the fundamental field is much weaker than the second-harmonic field, and the PMD reveals a characteristic single-lobe distribution when the two colors have comparable intensities. Using strong-field approximation, we analytically explain how the interference pattern on PMD evolves with respect to the relative laser intensity. By analyzing the interference pattern, we reveal the phase difference and the temporal evolution of the emitting electron wave packets. We show that, when monitoring the intensity ratio, the double-pointer attoclock geometry with corotating circular fields can be universally mimicked as the spatially rotating temporal double-slit experiments with the variable slit width, which can be used to probe and control strong-field ionization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peipei Ge
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Meng Han
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yongkai Deng
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Qihuang Gong
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Yunquan Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
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