Pulse length effects in long wavelength driven non-sequential double ionization

TL;DR

This study investigates how pulse duration influences non-sequential double ionization in argon driven by a 3100-nm laser, revealing the critical role of pulse length in electron dynamics through experimental and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a combined experimental and theoretical approach to understand pulse duration effects on NSDI, highlighting envelope-induced intensity effects on electron momentum distributions.

Findings

PMD strongly depends on pulse duration

Envelope effects influence electron drift momenta

Classical and quantum models confirm the mechanism

Abstract

We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of non-sequential double ionization (NSDI) in argon driven by a 3100-nm laser source. The correlated photoelectron momentum distribution (PMD) shows a strong dependence on the pulse duration, and the evolution of the PMD can be explained by an envelope-induced intensity effect. Determined by the time difference between tunneling and rescattering, the laser vector potential at the ionization time of the bound electron will be influenced by the pulse duration, leading to different drift momenta. Such a mechanism is extracted through a classical trajectory Monte Carlo-based model and it can be further confirmed by quantum mechanical simulations. This work sheds light on the importance of the pulse duration in NSDI and improves our understanding of the strong field tunnel-recollision dynamics under mid-IR laser fields.