Attosecond interference in strong-field nonsequential double ionization

Abstract

Kinetic-energy spectra of a single electron from strong-field nonsequential double ionization are investigated in a high-intensity regime with a quantum mechanical model. We find interference fringes with large energy spacings, which increases with the electron kinetic energy. These interference fringes originate from the electronic wave packets born in the recollision by the returning electronic wave packets from the ``short'' and the ``long'' quantum paths. Since the recollision happens in a fraction of a near-infrared (NIR) optical cycle, i.e., in an attosecond time interval, the resulting interference fringes exhibit energy spacings much larger than the NIR photon energy. The comparison of the quantum mechanical results with a classical collision model suggests a near-equal energy sharing between two electrons during the recollision process at very high intensities, in contrast to the extremely unequal energy sharing at low intensities.