Atomic photoionization processes under magnification
- Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Ionique et Moleculaire, UMR CNRS 5579, Batiment A. Kastler, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex (France)
Recently, classical simulations of threshold photoionization in the presence of an electric field have shown that a clear distinction between direct and indirect trajectories followed by the outgoing electron can be observed in the patterns of electron impacts on a two-dimensional detector. Subsequently, slow photoelectron imaging experiments have been reported where this distinction could be observed in atomic xenon. Furthermore, using a magnifying electrostatic lens to improve the velocity-map imaging technique, oscillatory patterns were observed modulating the classical envelope that was measured in the experiments of Nicole et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 133001 (2002)]. This extension of slow photoelectron imaging, called photoionization microscopy, relies on the existence of interferences between various trajectories by which the electron moves from the atom to the plane of observation. In this article we present the main experimental results obtained both in slow photoelectron imaging and in photoionization microscopy. The formation of the interference pattern is discussed in the framework of a semiclassical model that is described in detail elsewhere. The qualitative information that can be drawn from the experiments is discussed, and the potential applications of photoionization microscopy are considered. Particular attention is paid to the role of continuum Stark resonances that appear between the saddle point in the Coulomb+dc field potential and the field-free ionization limit.
- OSTI ID:
- 20646093
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 70, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.70.033417; (c) 2004 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ATOMS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
ELECTROSTATIC LENSES
INTERFERENCE
MICROSCOPY
MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHOTOIONIZATION
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
POTENTIALS
RESONANCE
SEMICLASSICAL APPROXIMATION
SIMULATION
STARK EFFECT
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
USES
VELOCITY
XENON