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Title: Theory of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions

Abstract

Strong-field ionization generally produces ions in a superposition of ionic eigenstates. This superposition is generally not fully coherent and must be described in terms of a density matrix. A recent experiment [E. Goulielmakis et al., Nature (London) 466, 739 (2010)] employed attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to determine the density matrix of strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions. The experimentally observed degree of coherence of the strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions is well reproduced by a recently developed multichannel strong-field-ionization theory, but there is significant disagreement between experiment and theory with respect to the degree of alignment of the Kr{sup +} ions. In the present paper, the theory underlying attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions is developed. The theory is formulated in such a way that the nonperturbative nature of the strong-field-ionization process is systematically taken into account. The impact of attosecond pulse propagation effects on the interpretation of experimental data is investigated both analytically and numerically. It is shown that attosecond pulse propagation effects cannot explain why the experimentally determined degree of alignment of strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions is much smaller than predicted by existing theory.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestrasse 85, D-22607 Hamburg (Germany)
  2. Department fuer Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet, Am Coulombwall 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
  3. Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
  4. Departments of Chemistry and Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21541311
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review. A
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 83; Journal Issue: 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.033405; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Journal ID: ISSN 1050-2947
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY; DENSITY MATRIX; EIGENSTATES; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; IONIZATION; KRYPTON IONS; PULSES; CHARGED PARTICLES; DATA; INFORMATION; IONS; MATRICES; NUMERICAL DATA; SPECTROSCOPY

Citation Formats

Santra, Robin, Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 9, D-20355 Hamburg, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, Yakovlev, Vladislav S, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Pfeifer, Thomas, Loh, Zhi-Heng, and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720. Theory of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.033405.
Santra, Robin, Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 9, D-20355 Hamburg, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, Yakovlev, Vladislav S, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Pfeifer, Thomas, Loh, Zhi-Heng, & Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720. Theory of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.033405
Santra, Robin, Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 9, D-20355 Hamburg, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, Yakovlev, Vladislav S, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Pfeifer, Thomas, Loh, Zhi-Heng, and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720. 2011. "Theory of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.033405.
@article{osti_21541311,
title = {Theory of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions},
author = {Santra, Robin and Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 9, D-20355 Hamburg and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 and Yakovlev, Vladislav S and Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching and Pfeifer, Thomas and Loh, Zhi-Heng and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720},
abstractNote = {Strong-field ionization generally produces ions in a superposition of ionic eigenstates. This superposition is generally not fully coherent and must be described in terms of a density matrix. A recent experiment [E. Goulielmakis et al., Nature (London) 466, 739 (2010)] employed attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to determine the density matrix of strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions. The experimentally observed degree of coherence of the strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions is well reproduced by a recently developed multichannel strong-field-ionization theory, but there is significant disagreement between experiment and theory with respect to the degree of alignment of the Kr{sup +} ions. In the present paper, the theory underlying attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of strong-field-generated ions is developed. The theory is formulated in such a way that the nonperturbative nature of the strong-field-ionization process is systematically taken into account. The impact of attosecond pulse propagation effects on the interpretation of experimental data is investigated both analytically and numerically. It is shown that attosecond pulse propagation effects cannot explain why the experimentally determined degree of alignment of strong-field-generated Kr{sup +} ions is much smaller than predicted by existing theory.},
doi = {10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.033405},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21541311}, journal = {Physical Review. A},
issn = {1050-2947},
number = 3,
volume = 83,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}