The role of incoherent scattering in laser-induced and laser-assisted processes

Abstract

We use the S-matrix formalism in order to investigate the possible role of incoherent scattering in different processes in a strong laser field. In the cases of above-threshold ionization (ATI) of atoms and above-threshold detachment (ATD) of negative ions, we assume that the ionized (detached) electron may scatter off a target other than its parent ion (atom). We call such a process incoherent in order to distinguish it from the coherent rescattering of an ionized (detached) electron off its parent ion (atom) which occurs in high-order above-threshold ionization (HATI) and high-order above-threshold detachment (HATD) processes. The same line of reasoning can be applied to the laser-assisted processes, such as the laser-assisted electron-ion radiative recombination (LAR) and the laser-assisted electron-atom scattering (LAS). If the density of the ionic beam used in a LAR experiment is high, it is possible that the electron scatters off an ionic target and subsequently recombines with another ion. Analogously, the electron that scatters on an atom in the LAS process may scatter once more off another atom. We show that the contribution of these incoherent processes to the energy spectra can be higher than that of the corresponding coherent processes if the density of atomic (ionic) targets is high enough. The spectra of the incoherent processes have a cutoff-like behavior and the cutoff energies are higher than those of the corresponding coherent processes. These results are explained by semiclassical analysis.