Abstract
The timing of electron release in strong-field double ionization poses great challenges both for conceptual definition and for conducting experimental measurements. Here we present coincidence momentum measurements of the doubly charged ion and of the two electrons arising from double ionization of argon using elliptically polarized laser pulses. Based on a semi-classical model, the ionization times are calculated from the measured electron momenta across a large intensity range. This paper discusses how this method provides timings on a coarse and on a fine scale, similar to the hour and the minute hand of a clock. We found that the ionization time of the first electron is in good agreement with the simulation, whereas the ionization of the second electron occurs significantly earlier than predicted.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the NCCR Quantum Photonics (NCCR QP), a research instrument of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), by ETH Research Grant ETH-03 09-2 and by the SNSF R’Equip grant 206021_128551/1. R.D. acknowledges support by a Koselleck Project of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. We thank H. J. Wörner for enlightening discussions.
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A.N.P. and C.C. performed the experiments. A.N.P. analysed the data and implemented the simulation. All authors were involved in the interpretation. A.N.P., R.D. and U.K. wrote the manuscript.
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Pfeiffer, A., Cirelli, C., Smolarski, M. et al. Timing the release in sequential double ionization. Nature Phys 7, 428–433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1946
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1946
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