Low-energy photoelectrons in strong-field ionization by laser pulses with large ellipticity

Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Sep 5;113(10):103005. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.103005. Epub 2014 Sep 5.

Abstract

The 3D photoelectron momentum distributions created by the strong-field ionization of argon atoms and naphthalene molecules with intense, large ellipticity (∼0.7) femtosecond laser pulses are studied. The experiment reveals the presence of low-energy electrons for randomly oriented naphthalene, but not for argon. Our theory shows that the induced dipole part of the cationic potential facilitates the creation of the low-energy electrons. We establish the conditions in terms of laser pulse parameters and molecular properties for which this type of low-energy electrons can be observed and point to applications thereof.