The recent adiabatic saddle-point approach of Shearer et al. [Phys. Rev. A 84, 033409 (2011)] is extended to multiphoton detachment of negative ions with outer p-state electrons. This theory is applied to investigate the strong-field photodetachment dynamics of F − ions exposed to few-cycle femtosecond laser pulses, without taking into account the rescattering mechanism. Numerical calculations are considered for mid-infrared laser wavelengths of 1300 and 1800 nm at laser intensities of 7.7 × 10 12 , 1.1 × 10 13 , and 1.3 × 10 13 W/cm 2. Two-dimensional momenta saddle-point spectra exhibit a distinct distribution in the shape of a "smile" in the complex-time plane. Electron momentum distribution maps of direct electrons are investigated. These produce a distinct pattern of above-threshold detachment (ATD) concentric rings due to constructive and destructive quantum interference of electrons detached from their parent ions. Probability detachment distributions presented, capturing the influence of saturation effects that are found to become more significant with increasing laser intensity at a fixed wavelength. ATD photoangular distributions as functions of laser intensity and wavelength near channel closings are also investigated and found to be sensitive to initial-state symmetry. Nonmonotonic structures observed in the ejected photoelectron energy spectra are attributed to interference effects from coherent electronic wave packets. Additionally the profiles of all the photoelectron emission spectra show strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase, indicating that it is a reliable parameter for characterizing the wave form of the pulse.

We present an efficient and accurate method to study electron detachment from negative ions by a few-cycle linearly polarized laser pulse. The adiabatic saddle-point method of Gribakin and Kuchiev [Phys. Rev. A 55, 3760 (1997)] is adapted to calculate the transition amplitude for a short laser pulse. Its application to a pulse with N optical cycles produces 2(N + 1) saddle points in complex time, which form a characteristic "smile." Numerical calculations are performed for H − in a 5-cycle pulse with frequency 0.0043 a.u. and intensities of 10 10 , 5 × 10 10 , and 10 11 W/cm 2 , and for various carrier-envelope phases. We determine the spectrum of the photoelectrons as a function of both energy and emission angle, as well as the angle-integrated energy spectra and total detachment probabilities. Our calculations show that the dominant contribution to the transition amplitude is given by 5-6 central saddle points, which correspond to the strongest part of the pulse. We examine the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the carrier-envelope phase and show that measuring such distributions can provide a way of determining this phase.

The recent adiabatic saddle-point method of Shearer et al. [Phys. Rev. A 84, 033409 (2011)] is applied to study strong-field photodetachment of H − by few-cycle linearly polarized laser pulses of frequencies near the two-photon detachment threshold. The behavior of the saddle points in the complex-time plane for a range of laser parameters is explored. A detailed analysis of the influence of laser intensities [(2 × 10 11 )-(6.5 × 10 11 ) W/cm 2 ], midinfrared laser wavelengths (1800-2700 nm), and various values of the carrier envelope phase (CEP) on (i) three-dimensional probability detachment distributions, (ii) photoangular distributions (PADs), (iii) energy spectra, and (iv) momentum distributions are presented. Examination of the probability distributions and PADs reveal main lobes and jetlike structures. Bifurcation phenomena in the probability distributions and PADs are also observed as the wavelength and intensity increase. Our simulations show that the (i) probability distributions, (ii) PADs, and (iii) energy spectra are extremely sensitive to the CEP and thus measuring such distributions provides a useful tool for determining this phase. The symmetrical properties of the electron momentum distributions are also found to be strongly correlated with the CEP and this provides an additional robust method for measuring the CEP of a laser pulse. Our calculations further show that for a three-cycle pulse inclusion of all eight saddle points is required in the evaluation of the transition amplitude to yield an accurate description of the photodetachment process. This is in contrast to recent results for a five-cycle pulse.

PACS numbers: 32.80.Gc 31.15.VSeveral omissions in our recent discussion on strong-field photodetachment [1] have been brought to our attention since the work was published. Calculations solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) for electron rescattering from F − have been carried out previously using the single active electron approximation [2,3]. The ejected-electron distributions presented in [2,3] show clear evidence for the importance of electron rescattering in strong-field photodetachment, and agree well with calculations based on the strong-field approximation.Our ejected-electron spectra, presented in [1], show the same general features as in [2,3]. However, our calculations are based on the solution of the TDSE for a full, 10-electron system, demonstrating the high quality of the final wavefunction obtained using a fully ab initio approach. The capability to describe all electrons also allows us to assess the importance of electron correlations in the multiphoton ionization process, thus going beyond the results previously reported in the literature.As a consequence of our oversight of [2, 3], we misrepresented the results presented in [4] where the rescattering process was found but not shown explicitly [5].Finally, we point out that early studies of the use of the strong field approximation for electron rescattering were previously presented in [6,7]. More recently, angle resolved spectra have been measured experimentally for above threshold detachment of Br − , with a strong-field approximation model providing almost indistinguishable theoretical results [8].

We present ab initio studies of photoelectron spectra for above threshold detachment (ATD) of F − anions in short, 1300 nm and 1800 nm laser pulses. We identify and assess the importance of electron rescattering in strong-field photodetachment of a negative ion through comparison with an analytic, Keldysh-type approach, demonstrating the capability of ab-initio computation in the challenging near-IR regime. We further assess the influence of the strong electron correlation on the photodetachment.PACS numbers: 32.80.Gc 31.15.VElectron rescattering is one of the fundamental processes occuring in the interaction between matter and intense light fields [1]. The mechanism is a critical part of the well known three-step or recollision model for high harmonic generation (HHG) or strong field double ionisation. According to the model an electron is first ionised, then driven by a strong laser field, before recolliding with the parent ion, either recombining, leading to HHG [2,3], or rescattering, leading to high-energy electron emission [4,5], or non-sequential double ionisation [6].Electron rescattering also encodes structural information about the residual ion into the wavepacket of the ejected electron and can thus be exploited as an experimental probe of the structure of the parent ion [1]. The technique is especially sensitive as the current density of a recolliding electron wavepacket exceeds that of conventional electron sources by several orders of magnitude [7]. Furthermore, the inherently subcycle and phase-locked nature of the recollision process gives access to electron dynamics on the attosecond scale, via information embedded in the photoelectron spectrum [8,9].One of the open questions in strong-field science concerns the importance of electron rescattering for negative ions. Significant progress has been made in understanding and controlling the equivalent process in neutral atoms and positive ions [10], but above-threshold detachment (ATD) presents a different challenge. The small binding energy allows detachment at low intensities. Hence to reach significant recollision energies, nearinfrared (NIR) laser fields are required. In addition, the absence of the Coulomb potential makes it easier for the electron wavepacket to spread out, reducing the effect of rescattering [4,5]. While evidence for rescattering from negative ions has been found experimentally [11], no verification has yet been provided from ab initio theory. A theoretical approach, based on first order correction to the strong field approximation, was able to reproduce experimental results from Br − and F − , [12] but a more recent study, using a numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE), found "no qualitative evidence of rescattering" for H − [13]. In this report we demonstrate that ab-initio theory can be used to investigate rescattering in the NIR regime.An additional complication in the description of negative ions is the much larger influence of dielectronicrepulsion. Several approximate methods have been empl...