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Journal of Optics

Transition dynamics in two-photon ionisation

Morgane Vacher, Romain Gaillac, A. Maquet, Richard Taïeb, Jérémie Caillat

Published Sep 27, 2017• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We review various aspects of photoemission dynamics in the case of two-photon ionisation. We first recall the definition of a transition phase specific to two-photon transitions. Numerical experiments on model atoms are used to show how the group delay associated with the transition phase is actually representative of the early dynamics of the detected photoelectron wave packets. Then we address the question of measuring these transition delays using a standard interferometric technique of experimental attosecond physics, so-called rabbit . Finally, we outline different reinterpretations of rabbit giving access to the more fundamental scattering dynamics affecting any photoemission processes.

DOI
10.1088/2040-8986/aa8f56

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Abstract We review various aspects of photoemission dynamics in the case of two-photon ionisation. We first recall the definition of a transition phase specific to two-photon transitions. Numerical experiments on model atoms are used to show how the group delay associated with the transition phase is actually representative of the early dynamics of the detected photoelectron wave packets. Then we address the question of measuring these transition delays using a standard interferometric technique of experimental attosecond physics, so-called rabbit . Finally, we outline different reinterpretations of rabbit giving access to the more fundamental scattering dynamics affecting any photoemission processes.
Photoionization is one of the most fundamental processes in light-matter interaction. Advanced attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy provides the possibility to characterize the ultrafast photoemission process in an extremely short attosecond time scale. Following scattering symmetry rules, residual ions encode ultrafast photoionization prints at the instant of electron removal forming an alternative electron emission chronoscope. Here, we experimentally illustrate the attosecond ion reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transition (RABBIT)-like interferometry through the development of high-resolution ion momentum detection in atomic photoionization processes. Our ion interferometry presents identical momentum- and time-dependent scattering phase shift, as we observed in photoelectron spectroscopy, and thus demonstrates that ion interferometry can be a possible alternative attosecond approach to resolve the photoionization process, without the electron homogeneity limitation.
Imaging in real time the complete dynamics of a process as fundamental as photoemission has long been out of reach because of the difficulty of combining attosecond temporal resolution with fine spectral and angular resolutions. Here, we achieve full decoding of the intricate angle-dependent dynamics of a photoemission process in helium, spectrally and anisotropically structured by two-photon transitions through intermediate bound states. Using spectrally and angularly resolved attosecond electron interferometry, we characterize the complex-valued transition probability amplitude toward the photoelectron quantum state. This allows reconstructing in space, time, and energy the complete formation of the photoionized wave packet.
We present a general theoretical framework for multiphoton processes driven by quantum light fields, establishing a direct link between photon statistics and photoelectron observables. Our results show that the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions, which quantify the underlying photon statistics, are directly mapped onto the resulting photoelectron spectra. Although our framework is broadly applicable, we demonstrate specifically in the example of reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBIT) the influence of the light statistical properties. In this approach, the amplitude, contrast and phase of the oscillations of the sideband signal as a function of pump-probe delay reveal the quantum nature of light. We analyze these observables across several quantum configurations, including correlated infrared and harmonic modes, as well as the uncorrelated case with non-classical harmonic statistics, thereby establishing a general framework for quantum-light RABBIT spectroscopy. We compare the analytical theory with numerical simulations for the case of classical harmonics and an infrared field in a squeezed coherent state, obtaining excellent agreement. Our results reveal how the interplay between classical and quantum correlations dictates the coherence of the photoemission process, providing a new window into the quantum-optical foundations of attosecond science.
Abstract Beyond the widely adopted dipole approximation, nondipole effects play an important role in completely understanding the electronic dynamics in light–matter interaction. We present a two-photon interferometric scheme to theoretically study the under-threshold nondipole transition phase over a broad energy range. It is found a significant difference between the nondipole and dipole two-photon transition phases near the Cooper minimum, which originates from the multichannel interference in the nondipole transition. Through the angular dependence of transition phase, we uncover the competition among partial waves in nondipole ionization. This work advances the fundamental understanding of nondipole dynamics in two-photon ionization, and opens a route toward the complete reconstruction of nondipole photoelectron wave packets.
Attosecond chronoscopy enables the exploration of correlated electron dynamics in real time. One key observable of attosecond physics is the determination of "time zero" of photoionization, the time delay with which the wave packet of the ionized electron departs from the ionic core. This observable has become accessible by experimental advances in attosecond streaking and reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBIT) techniques. In this Letter, we explore photoionization time delays by strong extreme ultraviolet fields beyond the linear-response limit. We identify novel signatures in time delays signifying strong coupling between atoms and light fields and the light-field dressing of the ion. As a prototypical case, we study the interelectronic coherence and entanglement in helium driven by a strong extreme ultraviolet field. By the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in its full dimensionality, we show that the time delay of the photoionized electron allows one to monitor the ultrafast variations of coherence dynamics and entanglement in real time.
Laser-dressed photoemission spectroscopy has established itself as the gold standard of attosecond temporal metrology.In this technique, the attosecond structure of an extreme-ultraviolet pulse is retrieved from the wave function of the electron wave packet released during photoionization.Here, we show that this electron wave packet should rather be described using the density matrix formalism, thus allowing one to account for all processes that can affect its coherence, from the attosecond pulse generation to the photoemission and the measurement processes.Using this approach, we reconstruct experimentally a partially coherent electron wave packet with a purity of 0.11 (1 for full coherence).Comparison with theoretical models then allows us to identify the origins of this decoherence and to overcome several limitations such as beam-line instabilities or spectrometer resolution.Furthermore, we show numerically how this method gives access to the coherence and eigencomponents of complex photoelectron wave packets.It thus goes beyond the current measurement of photoionization time delays and provides a general framework for the analysis and understanding of complex photoemission processes.