A theoretical study on the strong-field ionization of the lithium atom

Abstract

We apply a recently developed momentum space method (Jiang et al 2012 Phys. Rev. E 86 066702) to investigate the experimental results of strong-field ionization of the lithium atom (Schuricke et al 2011 Phys. Rev. A 83 023413). By splitting the photoelectron into groups of even and odd angular momenta and by using the states’ population history, we can analyse the ionization mechanism in further detail. The lower energy double-peak structure, shown experimentally, of the photoelectron is attributed to the three-level Λ-coupling effect. The spectral difference of 10 and 30 fs pulses at a typical intensity is demonstrated. We explain why the strong-field ionization fluctuates at intensities of 6 and 10 fs, but not for a 30 fs pulse. The change of fan-like photoelectron angular distribution with intensity in direction parallel to polarization is explained. Use of the Keldysh parameter to classify the tunnelling and multiphoton ionization is not meaningful for the lithium atom, because the ground state is mostly depleted before reaching peak intensity.