The effect of the Coulomb potential on subcycle interference of electron wave packets in atomic ionization by two-colour laser pulses

Abstract

We analyse the effect of the long-range potential of the ionic core on the photoelectron emission in atomic ionization by a linearly polarized subcycle sculpted laser pulse of two-colour components, where one frequency doubles the other. The total ionization yield consists mostly of direct electrons, which can be characterized by both intracycle and intercycle interferences. Using a semiclassical model based on the Simple Man’s Model, we can derive an analytical expression for the intracycle interference due to the coherent superposition of different electron trajectories released in the same sculpted optical cycle. In turn, the intercycle interference is the consequence of the superposition of multiple trajectories released at different cycles and is accounted for by the energy conservation in the photon absorption process. We show that a semiclassical description in terms of a diffraction process at a time grating for two-colour laser pulses remains qualitatively unchanged beyond the strong field approximation. In particular, the Coulomb potential shifts the intracycle interference modulations towards the threshold, whereas the intercycle interference pattern remains invariant. The present study completes a recent work by Xie et al (2013 New J. Phys. 15 043050), where the influence of the Coulomb field on atomic ionization by sculpted two-colour laser fields is probed but in which path interferences are not considered. Furthermore, this article gives theoretical support to recent experiments with He and Ar where the sub-cycle interference structures originating from trajectories launched within a time interval of less than one femtosecond were observed (Xie X et al 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 193004).