Photoionization of hydrogen atom by coherent intense high-frequency short laser pulses: Direct propagation of electron wave packets on large spatial grids

TL;DR

This paper numerically solves the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for hydrogen atom ionization under intense high-frequency laser pulses, revealing dynamic interference patterns in electron spectra and analyzing electron wave packet propagation over large spatial grids.

Contribution

It introduces a direct numerical propagation method for electron wave packets on large grids, enabling detailed study of dynamic interference effects in high-frequency photoionization.

Findings

Pronounced dynamic interference patterns observed in spectra.

Good agreement with previous results on photoionization spectra.

Weak above-threshold ionization processes for the considered pulses.

Abstract

The time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the hydrogen atom and its interaction with coherent intense high-frequency short laser pulses is solved numerically exactly by propagating the single-electron wave packets. Thereby, the wavefunction is followed in space and time for times longer than the pulse duration. Results are explicitly shown for 3 and 10 fs pulses. Particular attention is paid to identifying the effect of dynamic interference of photoelectrons emitted with the same kinetic energy at different times during the rising and falling sides of the pulse predicted in [\emph{Ph.V. Demekhin and L.S. Cederbaum}, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{108}, 253001 (2012)]. In order to be able to see the dynamic interference pattern in the computed electron spectra, the photoelectron wave packet has to be propagated over long distances. Clearly, complex absorption potentials often employed to compute spectra of emitted particles cannot be used to detect dynamic interference. For the considered high-frequency pulses of 3 and 10 fs durations, this requires enormously large spatial grids. The presently computed photoionization and above-threshold ionization spectra are found to exhibit pronounced dynamic interference patterns. Where available, the patterns are in very good agreement with previously published results on the photoionization spectra which have been computed using a completely different method, thus supporting the previously made assumption that the above-threshold ionization processes are very weak for the considered pulse intensities and high carrier frequency. The quiver motion in space and time of a free electron in strong laser pulses is also investigated numerically. Finally, a discussion is presented of how fast the atom is ionized by an intense pulse.