Generation of electron vortex states in ionization by intense and short laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper investigates how intense, short laser pulses can generate electron vortex states during ionization, emphasizing the importance of relativistic corrections for accurate predictions in near-infrared regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a corrected quasi-relativistic theory for ionization, enabling the prediction of electron vortex states with significant topological charge under realistic laser conditions.

Findings

Relativistic corrections are necessary at intensities around 10^{16} W/cm^2.

Conditions for observing electron vortex states are established.

The theory predicts the feasibility of generating vortex states with large topological charge.

Abstract

The generation of electron vortex states in ionization by intense and short laser pulses is analyzed under the scope of the lowest-order Born approximation. For near infrared laser fields and nonrelativistic intensities of the order of $10^{16}$~W/cm$^2$, we show that one has to modify the nonrelativistic treatment of ionization by accounting for recoil and mass relativistic corrections. By using the corrected quasi-relativistic theory, the requirements for the observation of electron vortex states with non-negligible probability and large topological charge are determined.