Very intense short linearly polarized laser pulses are unexpectedly effective in atomic double ionization. This is usually explained in terms of a laser-controlled collision, which creates unprecedented correlation during the second electron's ejection. Surprisingly, the consideration of elliptically polarized laser light does not complicate this picture but rather clarifies it, by revealing that just two distinct electron trajectories are responsible for almost all of the observed correlation. Previously unknown regularities in ion momentum are being predicted with elliptical polarization, and a new role for the Keldysh tunneling parameter will be proposed.


Monday, March 8, 2010, 12:00. ICFO’s Auditorium

Hosted by Prof. Jens Biegert