Ultrafast electron dynamics in strong field ionization
Dr. Alexandra Landsman Ultrafast Laser Physics / IQE / D-PHYS HPT E-5.1 ETH Zürich CH-8093 Zürich http://www.ulp.ethz.ch/people/seniorscientist/alandsman +41 44 633 41 70 | ||
Project start | September 2012 | |
Project end | April 2014 (but continued with SNSF support) | |
Goals | The goal of the project is to two-fold, covering both the analysis of raw experimental data and the comparison of this data to theory. On the data analysis side, the aim is to develop better methods for extracting relevant information from experimental observables, since many current methods work only under special circumstances and are therefore inadequate for the broad range of experiments available with existing technology. On the theory side, the aim is to develop theories to explain new experimental findings. An on-going collaboration with the experimental group of Prof. Keller is essential, both in developing improved data analysis techniques and designing new experiments to test existing and newly developed theories. | |
Contacts | Cornelia Hofmann, Department of Physics, Ultrafast Laser Physics (ULP), ETH Zurich Dr. Alexandra Landsman, Department of Physics, Ultrafast Laser Physics (ULP), ETH Zurich | |
Abstract | This project will address some open questions involving electron dynamics following strong field ionization. These questions are motivated by new experiments which cannot be explained by current commonly used theories, such as ADK. One such question involves the longitudinal spread of electron velocities measured at the detector following strong field ionization. It was recently found by Keller's group (Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 083002) that the experimentally measured spread is higher than what is predicted by theory. We are currently developing a theoretical framework to explain this finding. Another avenue of exploration involves the development of non-adiabatic theories in current experimental regimes. New experimental results show that existing non-adiabatic theories fail to correctly describe experimental observables. Resolving such experimentally motivated questions will give us deeper insight into the structure of atoms and molecules as well as the ionization process itself. | |
Publications | Hofmann, C., Landsman, A.S., Cirelli, C., Pfeiffer, A.N., and Keller, U. (2013) Comparison of different approaches to the longitudinal momentum spread after tunnel ionization. J Phys B: At Mol Opt Phys 46, 125601 (10.1088/0953-4075/46/12/125601) Landsman, A.S., Hofmann, C., Pfeiffer, A.N., Cirelli, C., and Keller, U. (2013) Unified Approach to Probing Coulomb Effects in Tunnel Ionization for Any Ellipticity of Laser Light. Phys Rev Lett 111, 263001 (10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.263001) Landsman, A.S., Pfeiffer, A.N., Hofmann, C., Smolarski, M., Cirelli, C., and Keller, U. (2013) Rydberg state creation by tunnel ionization. New J Phys 15, 13001 (10.1088/1367-2630/15/1/013001) Hofmann, C., Landsman, A.S., Zielinski, A., Cirelli, C., Zimmermann, T., Scrinzi, A., and Keller, U. (2014) Interpreting electron-momentum distributions and nonadiabaticity in strong-field ionization. Phys Rev A 90, 043406 (10.1103/PhysRevA.90.043406) |