Strong field dynamics with ultrashort electron wave packet replicas

Abstract

We investigate theoretically electron dynamics under a VUV attosecond pulse train which has a controlled phase delay with respect to an additional strong infrared laser field. We analyze the dynamics in terms of electron wave packet replicas created by the attosecond pulses. The absorption probability shows strong modulations as a function of the phase delay for VUV photons of energy comparable to the binding energy of the electron, while for higher photon energies the absorption probability does not depend on the delay, in line with the experimental observations for helium and argon, respectively.