Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW A
Volume 74, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.043403
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A recent pump-probe experiment employing tunable, linearly polarized x rays demonstrated that Kr+ ions produced via strong-field ionization in a linearly polarized laser field are aligned, but that the degree of alignment is greatly overestimated by nonrelativistic strong-field ionization models. An effective one-electron model of strong-field ionization is presented that includes the effect of spin-orbit interaction. The method makes use of a flexible finite-element basis set and determines ionization rates in this square-integrable basis using a complex absorbing potential. It is found that even at the electric-field strength corresponding to the saturation intensity for the ionization of Kr, there is very little mixing between the 4p(3/2) and 4p(1/2) outer-valence orbitals. This shows that the uncoupled m(l),m(s) projection quantum numbers are inappropriate to describe the Kr+ states that are populated by strong-field ionization of krypton. For the x-ray probe step, a description is developed, within a density-matrix formalism. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of spin-orbit interaction in the ionization process provides satisfactory agreement with the experimental observation. Possibilities for time-resolved studies utilizing fs and sub-fs laser pulses are indicated.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available