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arXiv:0705.0136 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Electron angular distributions in the two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions: a relativistic description

Peter Koval, S. Fritzsche, A. Surzhykov

Published Dec 17, 2003• 18 citations
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Abstract

The angular distribution of the emitted electrons, following the two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions, is studied within the framework of second order perturbation theory and the Dirac equation. Using a density matrix approach, we have investigated the effects which arise from the polarization of the incoming light as well as from the higher multipoles in the expansion of the electron–photon interaction. For medium- and high- Z ions, in particular, the non-dipole contributions give rise to a significant change in the angular distribution of the emitted electrons, if compared with the electric dipole approximation. This includes a strong forward emission while, in the dipole approximation, the electron emission always occurs symmetrically with respect to the plane which is perpendicular to the photon beam. Detailed computations for the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the polarization of the incident light are carried out for the ionization of H, and Xe 53+ and U 91+ (hydrogen-like) ions.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/37/2/006

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arXiv:1407.4063•Physical Review A•Jul 29, 2014•9 citations
The angular distribution of the emitted electrons, following the two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions, is studied within the framework of second order perturbation theory and the Dirac equation. Using a density matrix approach, we have investigated the effects which arise from the polarization of the incoming light as well as from the higher multipoles in the expansion of the electron–photon interaction. For medium- and high- Z ions, in particular, the non-dipole contributions give rise to a significant change in the angular distribution of the emitted electrons, if compared with the electric dipole approximation. This includes a strong forward emission while, in the dipole approximation, the electron emission always occurs symmetrically with respect to the plane which is perpendicular to the photon beam. Detailed computations for the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the polarization of the incident light are carried out for the ionization of H, and Xe 53+ and U 91+ (hydrogen-like) ions.
The angular correlations in the two-photon decay of hydrogenlike ions are studied within the framework of second-order perturbation theory, based on Dirac's equation. Particular attention has been paid to the effects which arise from the higher (nondipole) terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction. It is shown that the photon-photon angular correlation function, which is found symmetric with respect to the angle $\ensuremath{\theta}=90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ in the electric dipole approximation, becomes asymmetric because of the nondipole contributions, and that this effect is enhanced as the nuclear charge ZZZ increases. Detailed computations on the photon-photon angular distribution have been carried out for the $2{s}_{1∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ and $3{d}_{5∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ transitions in neutral hydrogen (H) as well as for hydrogenlike xenon (Xe53+)({\mathrm{Xe}}^{53+})(Xe53+) and uranium (U91+)({\mathrm{U}}^{91+})(U91+) ions, and are compared with previous nonrelativistic results by Au [Phys. Rev. A 14, 531 (1976)]).
We have applied the density matrix and second-order perturbation theory in order to re-analyze the two-photon decay of hydrogen-like ions for the polarization of emitted light. Special attention is paid to the linear polarization of one of the photons, while the spin state of the second photon is supposed to be unobserved. For such an “angle-polarization” correlation of the two photons we investigate the contributions that arise from non electric-dipole terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction. Detailed calculations are performed for the 2s 1/2 →1s 1/2 and 3d 5/2 →1s 1/2 transitions in neutral hydrogen as well as in hydrogen-like uranium.
We study in some detail the photoelectron angular distributions in two-colour three-photon ionization of the ground state hydrogen atom in its dependence on the polarizations of the two electromagnetic fields. We treat the particular case of photons propagating in the same direction and having elliptic polarizations with the same axes. The azimuthal distributions presented refer to the electrons emitted with momenta orthogonal to the photons direction. The calculations are done in nonrelativistic dipole approximation, in velocity gauge, using third-order perturbation theory. We show that the photoelectron azimuthal angular distributions have a fourfold symmetry only for identical linear or circular polarizations. In all the other cases the distribution has a twofold symmetry.
The spontaneous two-photon emission in hydrogenlike ions is investigated within the framework of second-order perturbation theory and Dirac's equation. Special attention is paid to the angular correlation of the emitted photons as well as to the degree of linear polarization of one of the two photons, if the second is just observed under arbitrary angles. Expressions for the angular correlation and the degree of linear polarization are expanded in powers of cosine functions of the two-photon opening angle, whose coefficients depend on the atomic number and the energy sharing of the emitted photons. The effects of including higher (electric and magnetic) multipoles upon the emitted photon pairs beyond the electric-dipole approximation are also discussed. Calculations of the coefficients are performed for the transitions $2{s}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}$, $3{d}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}$, and $3{d}_{5/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1/2}$, along the entire hydrogen isoelectronic sequence ($1\ensuremath{\le}Z\ensuremath{\le}100$).
The angular and polarization properties of the photon pair emitted in the two--photon decay of 2s2s2s hyperfine states in hydrogenlike ions are investigated within the relativistic Dirac framework and second order perturbation theory. The studied transitions are 2s1/2 (F=1,0)→1s1/2 (F=1,0)2s_{1/2}\,(F=1,0)\to1s_{1/2}\,(F=1,0)2s1/2​(F=1,0)→1s1/2​(F=1,0) in Hydrogen atom and 2s1/2 (F=4,3)→1s1/2 (F=4,3)2s_{1/2}\,(F=4,3)\to1s_{1/2}\,(F=4,3)2s1/2​(F=4,3)→1s1/2​(F=4,3) in hydrogenlike Uranium ion. Two different emission patterns are found: For non-spin-flip transitions, the angular correlation (i.e.i.e.i.e. the angular distribution of the emitted photons) is of the type ∼1+cos⁡2θ\sim 1+\cos^2θ∼1+cos2θ, while the linear polarizations of the emitted photons are approximately parallel one another; For spin-flip transitions, the angular correlation is of the type ∼1−1/3cos⁡2θ\sim 1-1/3\cos^2θ∼1−1/3cos2θ, while the linear polarizations of the emitted photons are approximately orthogonal one another.
The amplitude of two-photon transitions between hyperfine states in hydrogenlike ions is derived based on the relativistic Dirac equation and second-order perturbation theory. We study angular and linear polarization properties of the photon pair emitted in the decay of 2s2s2s states, where spin-flip and non-spin-flip transitions are highlighted. We pay particular attention to hydrogenlike uranium, since it is an ideal candidate for investigating relativistic and high-multipole effects, such as spin-flip transitions. Two types of emission patterns are identified: (i) non-spin-flip transitions are found to be characterized by an angular distribution of the type $W(\ensuremath{\theta})\ensuremath{\sim}1+{cos}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}$ while the polarizations of the emitted photons are parallel; and (ii) spin-flip transitions have somewhat smaller decay rates and are found to be characterized by an angular distribution of the type $W(\ensuremath{\theta})\ensuremath{\sim}1\ensuremath{-}1/3{cos}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}$ while the polarizations of the emitted photons are orthogonal, where $\ensuremath{\theta}$ is the angle between photons directions. Deviations due to nondipole and relativistic contributions are evaluated for both types of transitions. This work is the first step toward exploring the effect of the nucleus over the angular and polarization properties of the photon pairs emitted by two-photon transitions.