Transient localized electron dynamics simulation during femtosecond laser tunnel ionization of diamond

Abstract

A real-time and real-space time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is applied to simulate the nonlinear electron–photon interactions during femtosecond laser processing of diamond when tunnel ionization dominates. The transient localized electron dynamics including the electron excitation, energy absorption and electron density evolution are described in this Letter. In addition, the relationships among average absorbed energy, Keldysh parameter and laser intensity are revealed when the laser frequency is fixed.