Attosecond control of spin polarization in electron-ion recollision driven by intense tailored fields

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates attosecond control of electron spin polarization during recollision in noble gas atoms using tailored laser fields, revealing how spin polarization depends on recollision timing and can be engineered.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control spin polarization in electron recollision processes using tailored laser fields, enabling attosecond precision in spin-resolved dynamics.

Findings

Electrons recolliding with the ionic core become spin polarized.

Spin polarization depends on recollision timing and initial electron rotation.

Tuning field intensities controls the degree of spin polarization.

Abstract

We show that electrons recolliding with the ionic core upon tunnel ionization of noble gas atoms driven by a strong circularly polarized laser field in combination with a counter-rotating second harmonic are spin polarized and that their degree of polarization depends strongly on the recollision time. Spin polarization arises as a consequence of (1) entanglement between the recolliding electron and the ion, and (2) sensitivity of ionization to the sense of electron rotation in the initial state. We demonstrate that one can engineer the degree of spin polarization as a function of time by tuning the relative intensities of the counter-rotating fields, opening the door for attosecond control of spin-resolved dynamics.