Femtosecond-pulse-train ionization of Rydberg wave packets

Abstract

We calculate, based on first-order perturbation theory, the total and differential ionization probabilities from a dynamic periodic Rydberg wave packet of a given n-shell exposed to a train of femtosecond laser pulses. The total probability is shown to depend crucially on the laser repetition rate: For certain frequencies the ionization probability vanishes, while for others it becomes very large. The origin of this effect is the strong dependence of the ionization probability on the Stark quantum number. Correspondingly, the angular electronic distribution also changes significantly with the increasing number of pulses for certain repetition rates.

Spatial transport of electron quantum states with strong attosecond pulses

“…fi for any final state which are populated through the first order expression, equation (17). Even if based on a simple single cycle pulse, the result is general and can be obtained for any symmetric optical cycle.…”

“…It can be expected to be valid when the active particle receives a unidirectional impulsive momentum kick within a short interaction time compared to the characteristic time scale of the initial state. In strong field physics, the Magnus expansion applies to a series of strong and short half cycle pulses interacting with a one-electron atom ground state [7,8] or Rydberg atom traveling on a classical orbit [17].…”