Identification of Above-Threshold Ionization by Imaging Photoelectrons from Ammonia Molecules in an Intense Femtosecond Laser Field

Abstract

The above-threshold ionization process of ammonia molecules induced by a femtosecond laser field at 800 nm is studied in the intensity range from 1.6 × 1013 to 5.7 × 1013 W/cm2. Channel switching under different laser intensities is observed and identified in the photoelectron kinetic energy spectra of ammonia. Based on the photoelectron kinetic energy distributions and the photoelectron angular distributions, the characteristic peaks observed are exclusively assigned to the multiphoton resonance through certain intermediate states, followed by multiphoton above-threshold ionization.