We have performed single-active-electron numerical calculations of neon- and argonlike atoms interacting with short, intense, circularly polarized laser pulses at wavelengths between 10 nm and 1000 nm. Our results reveal a surprisingly large change by a factor of about 100 in the ionization ratio of electrons in initial states counter-rotating with respect to the field over corotating electrons in the previously unexplored intermediate few-photon ionization regime. The physical mechanism behind this observation is related to resonant enhanced ionization via states close in energy to the initial states. These doorway states are accessible exclusively from the initial state for counter-rotating electrons within the respective wavelength regime. The results may open a new route for controlling the generation of spin-polarized electrons by ultrashort laser pulses.
BT - Physical Review A DA - 2021-06 DO - 10.1103/physreva.103.l061101 IS - 6 N2 -We have performed single-active-electron numerical calculations of neon- and argonlike atoms interacting with short, intense, circularly polarized laser pulses at wavelengths between 10 nm and 1000 nm. Our results reveal a surprisingly large change by a factor of about 100 in the ionization ratio of electrons in initial states counter-rotating with respect to the field over corotating electrons in the previously unexplored intermediate few-photon ionization regime. The physical mechanism behind this observation is related to resonant enhanced ionization via states close in energy to the initial states. These doorway states are accessible exclusively from the initial state for counter-rotating electrons within the respective wavelength regime. The results may open a new route for controlling the generation of spin-polarized electrons by ultrashort laser pulses.
PB - American Physical Society (APS) PY - 2021 EP - L061101 T2 - Physical Review A TI - Enhanced ionization of counter-rotating electrons via doorway states in ultrashort circularly polarized laser pulses UR - https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.103.L061101 VL - 103 SN - 2469-9926, 2469-9934 ER -