Laser-dressed scattering of an attosecond electron wave packet

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the scattering of an attosecond electron wave packet launched by an attosecond pulse under the influence of an infrared laser field. As the electron scatters inside a spatially extended system, the dressing laser field controls its motion. We show that this interaction, which lasts just a few hundreds of attoseconds, clearly manifests itself in the spectral interference pattern between different quantum pathways taken by the outgoing electron. We find that the Coulomb-Volkov approximation, a standard expression used to describe laser-dressed photoionization, cannot properly describe this interference pattern. We introduce a quasiclassical model, based on electron trajectories, which quantitatively explains the laser-dressed photoelectron spectra, notably the laser-induced changes in the spectral interference pattern. © 2010 The American Physical Society.