Classical Trajectory Diagnosis of a Fingerlike Pattern in the Correlated Electron Momentum Distribution in Strong Field Double Ionization of Helium

With a semiclassical quasistatic model, we identify the distinct roles of nuclear Coulomb attraction, final-state electron repulsion, and the electron-field interaction in forming the fingerlike (or V-shaped) pattern in the correlated electron momentum distribution for helium double ionization in intense laser field [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 263002; Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 263003 (2007)]. The underlying microscopic trajectory configurations responsible for asymmetric electron energy sharing after electron-electron collision have been uncovered, and the corresponding subcycle dynamics is analyzed. The correlation pattern is found to be sensitive to the transverse momentum of correlated electrons.