Influence of Coulomb force between two electrons on double ionization of He-like atoms

Abstract

In strong-field double ionization, two electrons are ionized by intense laser field. These two electrons move in the laser field and the state is described by a Coulomb–Volkov state, where the repulsive Coulomb state describes the relative motion of the two electrons and the Volkov state describes the center-of-mass motion of the two electrons in the laser field. In the frame of scattering theory, we derive a simple analytical formula of the double ionization of He-like atoms. The effect of the Coulomb force between two electrons on the double ionization process is discussed. Numerical studies disclose that the Coulomb force enhances the ionization rate of high-energy electrons but suppresses the ionization rate of the lowest-energy electrons.