We investigate two-pathway interferences between nonresonant one-photon and resonant twophoton ionization of atomic hydrogen. In particular, we analyze in detail the photoionization mediated by the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic of a femtosecond VUV pulse when the fundamental is tuned near an intermediate atomic state. Following our recent study [Phys. Rev. A 91, 063418 (2015)] of such effects with linearly polarized light, we analyze a similar situation with circularly polarized radiation. As a consequence of the richer structure in circularly polarized light, characterized by its right-handed or left-handed helicity, we present and discuss various important features associated with the photoelectron angular distribution.

2160-3308=20=10(3)=031070(14) 031070-1 Published by the American Physical Society involving absorption and emission of an infrared photon is extracted. Our method can be used for extraction of a phase difference between single-photon and two-photon pathways and provides a new tool for attosecond science, which is complementary to RABBITT.

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We investigate the coherent control of the photoelectron angular distribution in bichromatic atomic ionization. Neon is selected as target since it is one of the most popular systems in current gas-phase experiments with free-electron lasers (FELSs). In particular, we tackle practical questions, such as the role of the fine-structure splitting, the pulse length, and the intensity. Time-dependent and stationary perturbation theory are employed, and we also solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in a single-active electron model. We consider neon ionized by a FEL pulse whose fundamental frequency is in resonance with either 2p − 3s or 2p − 4s excitation. The contribution of the nonresonant two-photon process and its potential constructive or destructive role for quantum coherent control is investigated.

The electron angular distribution after atomic photoionization by the fundamental frequency and its second harmonic is analyzed for a case when the frequency of the fundamental scans the region of an intermediate atomic state. The angular distribution and its left-right asymmetry, due to the two-pathway interference between nonresonant one-photon and resonant two-photon ionization, sharply change as function of the photon energy. The phenomenon is exemplified by both solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation on a numerical space-time grid and by applying perturbation theory for ionization of the hydrogen atom in the region of the 1s-2p transition for femtosecond pulses as well as an infinitely long exposure to the radiation. Parameterizations for the asymmetry and the anisotropy coefficients, obtained within perturbation theory, reveal general characteristics of observable quantities as functions of the parameters of the radiation beam.