Photoelectron angular distributions from polar molecules probed by intense femtosecond lasers

We present numerical calculations of molecular-frame photoelectron angular distributions in strong-field ionization of oriented polar HF and LiF molecules by linearly polarized laser pulses with durations of about 20 fs (seven cycles at 800 nm). The calculations are performed within the single-active-electron and frozen-nuclei approximations. Our analysis shows that for the HF and LiF molecules, anisotropies in the molecular potential and the probed orbital lead to enhanced ionization during laser half cycles with the field pointing antiparallel to the permanent dipole of the dipole term in a multipolar expansion of the anisotropic molecular potential. This is manifested as a strong asymmetry in the computed photoelectron angular distributions: The photoelectrons are preferentially detected opposite to the permanent dipole of the molecular potential. This phenomenon is very sensitive to the probed system (the probed orbital and the molecular potential) and the orientation angle between the molecular axis and the laser polarization.