Recollision dynamics and phase diagram for nonsequential double ionization with circularly polarized laser fields

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Mar 9;108(10):103601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.103601. Epub 2012 Mar 7.

Abstract

A semiclassical quasistatic model is used to investigate the recollision dynamics in circularly polarized laser fields. A velocity window for recollision to occur is found. Only when the return electron's orbits are irregular does significant double ionization take place. The model reproduces the experimental results for magnesium and explains the apparently conflicting experimental results in terms of an analytical formula that demarcates the phase diagram for the nonsequential double ionization in circularly polarized laser fields.