Strong-field triple ionization of atoms with $p^3$ valence shell

TL;DR

This study numerically investigates strong-field triple ionization in atoms with a $p^3$ valence shell, revealing that direct triple ionization yields surpass sequential pathways and suggesting experimental observability through electron momentum distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical approach to analyze triple ionization in $p^3$ atoms, highlighting the dominance of direct ionization channels over sequential ones.

Findings

Direct triple ionization yield exceeds sequential pathways.

Differences from $n s^ 2 n p^1$ configurations may be observed in electron momentum distributions.

Numerical methods effectively model multi-electron strong-field ionization processes.

Abstract

The interaction of strong pulsed femtosecond laser field with atoms having three equivalent electrons in the outer shell ($p^3$ configuration, e.g. nitrogen) is studied via numerical integration of a time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation on a grid approach. Single, double and triple ionization yields originating from a completely antisymmetric wave function are calculated and extracted using a restricted-geometry model with the soft-core potential and three active electrons. The direct triple ionization channel is found to produce a larger yield than the channel connected with single and then direct double ionization. Compared against earlier results investigating the $n s^ 2 n p^1$ configuration, we propose that the differences found here might in fact be accessible through electron's momentum distribution.