A theoretical method to study the angle-resolved multiphoton ionization of polyatomic molecules is developed. It is based on the time-dependent formulation of the Single Center (TDSC) method and consists in the propagation of single-active-electron wave packets in the effective molecular potentials in the presence of intense laser pulses. For this purpose, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for one electron, moving in a molecular field and interacting with an arbitrary laser pulse, is solved in spherical coordinates by an efficient numerical approach. As a test, the method is applied to the one- and two-photon ionizations of a model methane-like chiral system by circularly polarized short intense high-frequency laser pulses. Thereby, we analyze the photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) in the momentum distribution. The considered model application illustrates the capability of the TDSC method to study multiphoton PECD in fixed-in-space and randomly oriented chiral molecules.

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We investigate angular emission distributions of the 1s photoelectrons of N 2 ionized by linearly polarized synchrotron radiation at hν ¼ 40 keV. As expected, nondipole contributions cause a very strong forward-backward asymmetry in the measured emission distributions. In addition, we observe an unexpected asymmetry with respect to the polarization direction, which depends on the direction of the molecular fragmentation. In particular, photoelectrons are predominantly emitted in the direction of the forward nitrogen atom. This observation cannot be explained via asymmetries introduced by the initial bound and final continuum electronic states of the oriented molecule. The present simulations assign this asymmetry to a novel nontrivial effect of the recoil imposed to the nuclei by the fast photoelectrons and high-energy photons, which results in a propensity for the ions to break up along the axis of the recoil momentum. The results are of particular importance for the interpretation of future experiments at x-ray free electron lasers operating in the few tens of keV regime, where such nondipole and recoil effects will be essential.

Photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) in different regimes of multiphoton ionization of fenchone is studied theoretically using the time-dependent single center method. In particular, we investigate the chiral response to the one-color multiphoton or strong-field ionization by circularly polarized 400 and 814 nm optical laser pulses or 1850 nm infrared pulse. In addition, the broadband ionization by short coherent circularly polarized 413-1240 nm spanning pulse is considered.Finally, the two-color ionization by the phase-locked 400 and 800 nm pulses, which are linearly polarized in mutually-orthogonal directions, is investigated. The present computational results on the one-color multiphoton ionization of fenchone are in agreement with the available experimental data. For the ionization of fenchone by broadband and bichromatic pulses, the present theoretical study predicts substantial multiphoton PECDs.

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Photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) in the one-photon detachment of a model chiral anionic system is studied theoretically by the single center method. The computed chiral asymmetry, characterized by the dichroic parameter β1 of up to about ±3%, is in good accord with the first experimental observations of the effect in photodetachment of amino acid anions [P. Krüger and K. M. Weitzel, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 60, 17861 (2021)]. Our findings confirm a general assumption that the magnitude of PECD is governed by the ability of an outgoing photoelectron wave packet to accumulate characteristic chiral asymmetry from the short-range part of the molecular potential.

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