Exploring symmetries in photoelectron holography with two-color linearly polarized fields

Abstract

We investigate photoelectron holography in bichromatic linearly polarized fields of commensurate frequencies rω and sω, with emphasis on the existing symmetries and for which values of the relative phase between the two driving waves they are kept or broken. Using group-theoretical methods, we show that, additionally to the well-known half-cycle symmetry, which is broken for r + s odd, there are reflection symmetries around the field zero crossings and maxima, which may or may not be kept, depending on how both waves are dephased. The three symmetries are always present for monochromatic fields, while for bichromatic fields this is not guaranteed, even if r + s is even and the half-cycle symmetry is retained. Breaking the half-cycle symmetry automatically breaks one of the other two, while, if the half-cycle symmetry is retained, the other two symmetries are either both kept or broken. We analyze how these features affect the ionization times and saddle-point equations for different bichromatic fields. We also provide general expressions for the relative phases ϕ which retain specific symmetries. As an application, we compute photoelectron momentum distributions for ω − 2ω fields with the Coulomb quantum orbit strong-field approximation and assess how holographic structures such as the fan, the spider and interference carpets behave, focusing on the reflection symmetries. The features encountered can be traced back to the field gradient and amplitude affecting ionization probabilities and quantum interference in different momentum regions.