Work

Molecular orbital imprint in laser-driven electron recollision

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Electrons released by strong-field ionization from atoms and molecules or in solids can be accelerated in the oscillating laser field and driven back to their ion core. The ensuing interaction, phase-locked to the optical cycle, initiates the central processes underlying attosecond science. A common assumption assigns a single, well-defined return direction to the recolliding electron. We study laser-induced electron rescattering associated with two different ionization continua in the same, spatially aligned, polyatomic molecule. We show by experiment and theory that the electron return probability is molecular frame-dependent and carries structural information on the ionized orbital. The returning wave packet structure has to be accounted for in analyzing strong-field spectroscopy experiments that critically depend on the interaction of the laser-driven continuum electron, such as laser-induced electron diffraction.

Source: Science Advances

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aap8148

Authors: Felix Schell, Timm Bredtmann, Claus Peter Schulz, Serguei Patchkovskii, Marc J. J. Vrakking, Jochen Mikosch

Institution: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy

Language: English

Topic: Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,500

Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft