Temporal interference driven by an oscillating electric field in photodetachment of H− ion**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374133) and the Taishan Scholars Project of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. ts2015110055).

Abstract

The real time domain interferometry for the photodetachment dynamics driven by the oscillating electric field has been studied for the first time. Both the geometry of the detached electron trajectories and the electron probability density are shown to be different from those in the photodetachment dynamics in a static electric field. The influence of the oscillating electric field on the detached electron leads to a surprisingly intricate shape of the electron waves, and multiple interfering trajectories generate complex interference patterns in the electron probability density. Using the semiclassical open-orbit theory, we calculate the interference patterns in the time-dependent electron probability density for different electric field strengths, different frequencies and phases in the oscillating electric field. This method is universal, and can be extended to study the photoionization dynamics of the atoms in the time-dependent electric field. Our study can guide the future experimental researches in the photodetachment or photoionization microscopy of negative ions and atoms in the oscillating electric field.