Electrons released from clusters through strong Xray pulses show broad kinetic-energy spectra, extending from the atomic excess energy down to the threshold, where usually a strong peak appears. These low-energy electrons are normally attributed to e
vaporation from the nano-plasma formed in the highly-charged clusters. Here, it is shown that also directly emitted photo electrons generate a pronounced spectral feature close to threshold. Furthermore, we give an analytical approximation for the direct photo-electron spectrum.
Soft recollisions are laser-driven distant collisions of an electron with its parent ion. Such collisions may cause an energy bunching, since electrons with different initial drift momenta can acquire impacts, which exactly counterbalance these diffe
rences. The bunching generates a series of peaks in the photo-electron spectrum. We will show that this series could be uncovered peak-by-peak experimentally by means of phase-stabilized few-cycle pulses with increasing duration.
We introduce soft recollisions in laser-matter interaction. They are characterized by the electron missing the ion upon recollision in contrast to the well-known head-on collisions responsible for high-harmonic generation or above-threshold ionizatio
n. We demonstrate analytically that soft recollisions can cause a bunching of photo-electron energies through which a series of low-energy peaks emerges in the electron yield along the laser polarization axis. This peak sequence is universal, it does not depend on the binding potential, and is found below an excess energy of one fifth of the ponderomotive energy.
Laser-driven rescattering of electrons is the basis of many strong-field phenomena in atoms and molecules. Here, we will show how this mechanism operates in extended atomic systems, giving rise to effective energy absorption. Rescattering from extend
ed systems can also lead to energy loss, which in its extreme form results in non-linear photo-association. Intense-laser interaction with atomic clusters is discussed as an example. We explain fast electron emission, seen in experimental and numerically obtained spectra, by rescattering of electrons at the highly charged cluster.
Energy absorption of xenon clusters embedded in helium nanodroplets from strong femtosecond laser pulses is studied theoretically. Compared to pure clusters we find earlier and more efficient energy absorption in agreement with experiments. This effe
ct is due to resonant absorption of the helium nanoplasma whose formation is catalyzed by the xenon core. For very short double pulses with variable delay both plasma resonances, due to the helium shell and the xenon core, are identified and the experimental conditions are given which should allow for a simultaneous observation of both of them.
It is shown that the energy absorption of a rare-gas cluster from a vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) pulse can be traced with time-delayed extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond probe pulses by measuring the kinetic energy of the electrons detached by the prob
e pulse. By means of this scheme we demonstrate, that for pump pulses as short as one femtosecond, the charging of the cluster proceeds during the formation of an electronic nano-plasma inside the cluster. Using moderate harmonics for the VUV and high harmonics for the XUV pulse from the same near-infrared laser source, this scheme with well defined time delays between pump and probe pulses should be experimentally realizable. Going to even shorter pulse durations we predict that pump and probe pulses of about 250 attoseconds can induce and monitor non-equilibrium dynamics of the nano-plasma.
