arXiv subjects

Felipe Morales

Publications and source records attributed to Felipe Morales.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Attosecond control of spin polarization in electron-ion recollision driven by intense tailored fields

We show that electrons recolliding with the ionic core upon tunnel ionization of noble gas atoms driven by a strong circularly polarized laser field in combination with a counter-rotating second harmonic are spin polarized and that their degree of polarization depends strongly on the recollision time. Spin polarization arises as a consequence of (1) entanglement between the recolliding electron and the ion, and (2) sensitivity of ionization to the sense of electron rotation in the initial state. We demonstrate that one can engineer the degree of spin polarization as a function of time by tuning the relative intensities of the counter-rotating fields, opening the door for attosecond control of spin-resolved dynamics.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2015

Opportunities for detecting ring currents using the attoclock set-up

Strong field ionization by circularly polarized laser fields from initial states with internal orbital momentum has interesting propensity rule: electrons counter-rotating with respect to the laser field can be liberated more easily than co-rotating electrons [Barth and Smirnova PRA 84, 063415, 2011}]. Here we show that application of few-cycle IR pulses allows one to use this propensity rule to detect ring currents associated with such quantum states, by observing angular shifts of the ejected electrons. Such shifts present the main observable of the attoclock method. We use time-dependent Analytical $R$-Matrix (A$R$M) theory to show that the attoclock measured angular shifts of an electron originating from two counter-rotating orbitals ($p^{+}$ and $p^{-}$) are noticeably different. Our work opens new opportunities for detecting ring currents excited in atoms and molecules, using the attoclock set-up.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2015

Spin-Orbit Larmor Clock for Ionisation Times in One-Photon and Strong-Field Regimes

Photoionisation is a process where absorption of one or several photons liberates an electron and creates a hole in a quantum system, such as an atom or a molecule. Is it faster to remove an electron using one or many photons, and how to define this time? Here we introduce a clock that allows us to define ionisation time for both one-photon and many-photon ionisation regimes. The clock uses the interaction of the electron or hole spin with the magnetic field created by their orbital motion, known as the spin-orbit interaction. The angle of spin precession in the magnetic field records time. We use the combination of analytical theory and ab-initio calculations to show how ionisation delay depends on the number of absorbed photons, how it appears in the experiment and what electron dynamics it signifies. In particular, we apply our method to calculate the derived time delays in tunnelling regime of strong-field ionisation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Interpreting Attoclock Measurements of Tunnelling Times

Resolving in time the dynamics of light absorption by atoms and molecules, and the electronic rearrangement this induces, is among the most challenging goals of attosecond spectroscopy. The attoclock is an elegant approach to this problem, which encodes ionization times in the strong-field regime. However, the accurate reconstruction of these times from experimental data presents a formidable theoretical challenge. Here, we solve this problem by combining analytical theory with ab-initio numerical simulations. We apply our theory to numerical attoclock experiments on the hydrogen atom to extract ionization time delays and analyse their nature. Strong field ionization is often viewed as optical tunnelling through the barrier created by the field and the core potential. We show that, in the hydrogen atom, optical tunnelling is instantaneous. By calibrating the attoclock using the hydrogen atom, our method opens the way to identify possible delays associated with multielectron dynamics during strong-field ionization.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2014

Photoelectron angular distributions from aligned molecules using the R-matrix method

We present a new extension of the UKRmol electron-molecule scattering code suite, which allows one to compute ab initio photoionization and photorecombination amplitudes for complex molecules, resolved both on the molecular alignment (orientation) and the emission angle and energy of the photoelectron. We illustrate our approach using CO$_2$ as an example, and analyze the importance of multi-channel effects by performing our calculations at different, increasing levels of complexity. We benchmark our method by comparing the results of our calculations with experimental data and with theoretical calculations available in the literature.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2013

CDENPROP: Transition matrix elements involving continuum states

Transition matrix elements between electronic states where one electron can be in the continuum are required for a wide range of applications of the molecular R-matrix method. These include photoionization, photorecombination and photodetachment; electron-molecule scattering and photon-induced processes in the presence of an external D.C. field, and time-dependent R-matrix approaches to study the effect of the exposure of molecules to strong laser fields. We present a new algorithm, implemented as a module (CDENPROP) in the UKRmol electron-molecule scattering code suite.

physics.chem-ph↗