Origin of Species Dependence of High-Energy Plateau Photoelectron Spectra

Abstract

We analysed the energy and momentum distributions of high-energy 'plateau' photoelectrons. These electrons, with energies above 4Up (Up is the ponderomotive energy), have been understood qualitatively as due to the backscattering of laser-induced returning electrons by the target ion. Here, we establish a quantitative rescattering (QRS) theory to show that the species and laser-intensity dependence of the 'flatness' of the plateau electrons is entirely determined by the energy and angular dependence of the elastic scattering cross sections between target ions with free electrons. This accurate QRS theory can be used to obtain energy and momentum distributions of plateau electrons without the need of solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

Department(s)

Physics

Keywords and Phrases

Atoms; Laser Theory; Photoelectron Spectroscopy; Photoionization; Photons, Angular Dependences; Dinger Equations; Elastic Scattering Cross Sections; Free Electrons; High Energies; Intensity Dependences; Laser-Induced; Momentum Distributions; Photoelectron Spectrum; Ponderomotive Energies; Rescattering; Target Ions; Time Dependents, Electrons

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0953-4075

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd., All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Mar 2009

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