Electron rotational asymmetry in strong-field photodetachment from F$^-$ by circularly polarized laser pulses

TL;DR

This study uses advanced computational methods to analyze how electron detachment from F$^-$ ions in circularly polarized infrared laser fields exhibits asymmetry based on initial orbital rotation, with results aligning well with analytical models.

Contribution

The paper applies the $R$-matrix with time-dependence method to investigate electron detachment asymmetry, providing detailed energy-dependent analysis and comparison with analytical predictions.

Findings

Detachment yield is asymmetrically distributed between initial orbitals.

Preference for detachment of electrons counter-rotating relative to the field.

Good qualitative agreement with analytical models at two wavelengths.

Abstract

We use the $R$-matrix with time-dependence method to study detachment from F$^-$ in circularly-polarized laser fields of infrared wavelength. By decomposing the photoelectron momentum distribution into separate contributions from detached $2p_1$ and $2p_{-1}$ electrons, we demonstrate that the detachment yield is distributed asymmetrically with respect to these initial orbitals. We observe the well-known preference for strong-field detachment of electrons that are initially counter-rotating relative to the field, and calculate the variation in this preference as a function of photoelectron energy. The wavelengths used in this work provide natural grounds for comparison between our calculations and the predictions of analytical approaches tailored for the strong-field regime. In particular, we compare the ratio of counter-rotating electrons to corotating electrons as a function of photoelectron energy. We carry out this comparison at two wavelengths, and observe good qualitative agreement between the analytical predictions and our numerical results.