We study the ionization of atomic hydrogen in the direction of polarization due to a linearly polarized XUV pulse in the presence of a strong IR laser. We describe the photoelectron spectra as an interference problem in the time domain. Electron trajectories stemming from different optical laser cycles give rise to intercycle interference energy peaks known as sidebands. These sidebands are modulated by a coarse-grained structure coming from the intracycle interference of the two electron trajectories born during the same optical cycle. We make use of a simple semiclassical model that offers the possibility to establish a connection between emission times and the photoelectron kinetic energy. We analyze such interference pattern as a function of the time delay between the IR and the XUV pulses and also as a function of the laser intensity. We compare the semiclassical predictions with the continuum-distorted-wave strong-field approximation and the ab initio solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

The partial cross sections for photoionization of $\text{H}_2{}^{+}$ present structures which are usually called Cooper-like minima. We analyze the physical origin of these features to determine if they are associated to the confinement of the target electron, as recently proposed by Férnandez et al., or to zero absorption as suggested here. A thorough analysis of the partial cross sections, the phase shifts, and the transition amplitude clearly shows that the Cooper-like minima correspond to zero absorption. To demonstrate this we show that the phase shifts have a maximum and the transition matrix is exactly zero at the electron momentum corresponding to where the Cooper-like minima appear. Finally, we show that the existence of the Cooper-like minima survive when the vibrational degree of freedom of the target is taken into account.

We present a theoretical study of atomic laser-assisted photoionization emission. We consider an atom driven by a linearly polarized extreme ultraviolet laser in two scenarios: (i) a single attosecond pulse (in both the streaking and the sideband regimes) and (ii) an attosecond pulse train. The process takes place assisted by a linearly polarized infrared laser field. In all these cases the energy- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectrum (PES) is determined by a leading contribution, related to the intracycle factor [Gramajo et al., J. Phys. B 51, 055603 (2018)], complemented by other ones, derived from the periodicity and symmetry properties of the dipole transition matrix with respect to the infrared field. Each of these terms imprint particular features in the PES that can be straightforwardly understood in terms of generalized energy conservation laws. We investigate in detail these PES structures, in particular, for the case of argon initially in the $3s$ quantum state. Our theoretical scheme, based on the strong-field approximation, can be applied, however, to other atomic species and field configurations as well.

A theoretical study of ionization of the hydrogen atom due to an XUV pulse in the presence of an infrared (IR) laser is presented. Well-established theories are usually used to describe the laser-assisted photoelectron effect: the well-known soft-photon approximation firstly posed by Maquet et al (2007 J. Mod. Opt. 54 1847) and Kazansky’s theory in (2010 Phys. Rev. A 82 , 033420). However, these theories completely fail to predict the electron emission perpendicularly to the polarization direction. Making use of a semiclassical model (SCM), we study the angle-resolved energy distribution of PEs for the case that both fields are linearly polarized in the same direction. We thoroughly analyze and characterize two different emission regions in the angle-energy domain: (i) the parallel-like region with contribution of two classical trajectories per optical cycle and (ii) the perpendicular-like region with contribution of four classical trajectories per optical cycle. We show that our SCM is able to assess the interference patterns of the angle-resolved PE spectrum in the two different mentioned regions. Electron trajectories stemming from different optical laser cycles give rise to angle-independent intercycle interferences known as sidebands. These sidebands are modulated by an angle-dependent coarse-grained structure coming from the intracycle interference of the electron trajectories born during the same optical cycle. We show the accuracy of our SCM as a function of the time delay between the IR and the XUV pulses and also as a function of the laser intensity by comparing the semiclassical predictions of the angle-resolved PE spectrum with the continuum-distorted wave strong field approximation and the ab initio solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.