Double-electron above-threshold ionization resonances as interference phenomena

Abstract

We report calculations of double-ionization energy spectra and momentum distributions of laser-driven helium due to few-cycle pulses of wavelength 195 nm. The results are obtained from full-dimensional numerical integration of the two-electron time-dependent Schrödinger equation. A momentum-space analysis of doubly ionizing wavepackets shows that the concentric-ring structure of above-threshold double ionization, together with the associated structure of peaks in the total kinetic energy spectrum, may be attributed to wavepacket interference effects, where at least two doubly ionizing wavepackets from different recollision events populate the same spatial hemisphere. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.