Transverse electron momentum distribution in tunneling and over the barrier ionization by laser pulses with varying ellipticity

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the transverse electron momentum distribution changes during strong field atomic ionization as the laser pulse ellipticity varies, revealing different behaviors in tunneling and over-the-barrier regimes through experiments and theory.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of TEMD evolution in tunneling and over-the-barrier ionization regimes with varying laser ellipticity, combining experimental and theoretical approaches.

Findings

TEMD evolution differs between tunneling and over-the-barrier regimes with increasing ellipticity

Experimental and theoretical results show qualitative differences in TEMD behavior

Ellipticity significantly influences electron momentum distribution during ionization

Abstract

We study transverse electron momentum distribution (TEMD) in strong field atomic ionization driven by laser pulses with varying ellipticity. We show, both experimentally and theoretically, that the TEMD in the tunneling and over the barrier ionization regimes evolves in a qualitatively different way when the ellipticity parameter describing polarization state of the driving laser pulse increases.