Multiply charged negative ions of hydrogen in linearly polarized laser fields

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · Physical Review A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.56.2192· OSTI ID:538515

van Duijn, E; Muller, H G ^[1]

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1. FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Kruislaan 407, 1098 SJ, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Motivated by the prediction of the appearance of atomic multiply charged negative ions (AMCNI) of hydrogen, induced by a linearly polarized laser field, we present an analytical quantum mechanical treatment of the appearance and structure of AMCNI in a linearly polarized field, based on high-frequency Floquet theory (HFFT). For the simplest AMCNI of hydrogen, H{sup 2{minus}} and H{sup 3{minus}}, the values of {alpha}{sub 0} at which the first bound state appears are {alpha}{sub 0}=1.62{times}10{sup 2} and {alpha}{sub 0}=1.02{times}10{sup 4}, where {alpha}{sub 0}=I{sup 1/2}/{omega}{sup 2} is the amplitude of the oscillation of a free electron in the field with frequency {omega} and intensity I (unless stated otherwise, we use atomic units throughout this paper). Whereas in vacuum at least one of the electrons of an AMCNI autodetaches, an intense high-frequency field can change the character of the ion dramatically, such that bound states of AMCNI can appear. Due to the interaction with the field, the electrons of the AMCNI oscillate in phase along the polarization axis. This {open_quotes}quiver{close_quotes} motion enables the electrons to be spatially separated over distances of order {alpha}{sub 0}, reducing the repulsive e-e interaction as {alpha}{sub 0} increases. In other words, for {alpha}{sub 0} large enough, the field enables a configuration in which the electrons, while widely separated, are bound to one proton. For the prediction of bound states of H{sup N{minus}} with N{gt}3, however, a relativistic description or low-frequency theory is required. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 538515
• Journal Information: Physical Review A, Vol. 56, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
HYDROGEN IONS 1 MINUS
PHOTON-ION COLLISIONS
HYDROGEN IONS
ANIONS
RADIATION PRESSURE
MULTICHARGED IONS
LASER RADIATION
POLARIZATION