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Strong-field physics

Ionization surprise

The common picture of how atoms and molecules are ionized in intense laser fields has had decades of success. However, the observation of an unexpected but apparently universal low-energy photoionization feature suggests this picture is incomplete.

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Figure 1: Optical tunnelling ionization of atoms in intense, long-wavelength laser fields.

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Faisal, F. Ionization surprise. Nature Phys 5, 319–320 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1264

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