Ponderomotive potential effects on strong field two-photon double ionization in neon

Abstract In the context of the recently reported experiment on photoionization in neon atom, we theoretically study the photoionization of neon atom at a comparatively intense laser field. The calculated photoelectron spectrum for a Gaussian laser pulse show an asymmetric double peak line shape at a pulse duration of 14.2 fs and peak intensity of 1 × 10 15 W cm −2 . A systematic study clearly indicates that the ponderomotive potential of the photoelectron released during photoionization of neon is instrumental in causing the visible asymmetry. Interestingly, for similar laser parameters asymmetry in the photoelectron spectrum gets significantly reduced for a Sech 2 shaped laser pulse. Time resolved photoelectron spectrum reveals that even for a Sech 2 shaped laser pulse the two peak photoelectron spectrum is initially asymmetric and evolves into a symmetric line shape with increase in time. The results clearly indicate that irrespective of laser pulse shape asymmetry shows a non-linear decrease as a function of time. Our study also shows the possibility of controlling the asymmetry by varying the pulse duration. The calculations establishes a correlation between the effects of direct double ionization and ponderomotive potential on the asymmetry of the photoelectron spectrum at different pulse durations.