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Correlated electron emission in multiphoton double ionization

Nature volume 405, pages 658–661 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Electronic correlations govern the dynamics of many phenomena in nature, such as chemical reactions and solid state effects, including superconductivity. Such correlation effects can be most clearly investigated in processes involving single atoms. In particular, the emission of two electrons from an atom—induced by the impact of a single photon1, a charged particle2 or by a short laser pulse3—has become the standard process for studies of dynamical electron correlations. Atoms and molecules exposed to laser fields that are comparable in intensity to the nuclear fields have extremely high probabilities for double ionization4,5; this has been attributed to electron–electron interaction3. Here we report a strong correlation between the magnitude and the direction of the momentum of two electrons that are emitted from an argon atom, driven by a femtosecond laser pulse (at 38 TW cm-2). Increasing the laser intensity causes the momentum correlation between the electrons to be lost, implying that a transition in the laser–atom coupling mechanism takes place.

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Figure 1: Momentum correlation between the Ar+ ion and electrons created in the focus of a 220-fs, 800-nm laser pulse at peak intensities of 3.8 × 1014 W cm-2.
Figure 2: Momentum correlation between the two emitted electrons when an Ar2+ ion is produced in the focus of a 220-fs, 800-nm laser pulse at peak intensities of 3.8 × 1014 W cm-2 (a) and 15 × 1014 W cm-2 (b).

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Schmidt-Böcking for enthusiastic support, and R. Moshammer and J. Ullrich for helpful discussons. Our analysis of the influence of the laser field on the final state momenta emerged after fruitful discussion with A. Becker and F. H. M. Faisal. We are grateful to W. W. Rühle for continuous support and thank Roentdek GmbH for providing the position sensitive detectors. This work is supported by DFG, BMBF, GSI and DAAD. R.D. is supported by the Heisenberg Programme of the DFG. The Marburg group thanks the Land Hessen and the DFG for support through the SFB383 and their Graduiertenkolleg ‘Optoelektronik mesoskopischer Halbleiter’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Kernphysik, Universität Frankfurt, August Euler Strasse 6, Frankfurt, D-60486, Germany

    Th. Weber, M. Weckenbrock, A. Staudte, L. Spielberger, O. Jagutzki, V. Mergel & R. Dörner

  2. Fachbereich Physik, Philipps-Universität , Renthof 5, Marburg, D-35032, Germany

    H. Giessen, G. Urbasch & M. Vollmer

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  1. Th. Weber
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Correspondence to R. Dörner.

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Weber, T., Giessen, H., Weckenbrock, M. et al. Correlated electron emission in multiphoton double ionization. Nature 405, 658–661 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35015033

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