Control of photoelectron interference dynamics with two-color laser fields

Abstract

We study the multiple interference structures in photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) of xenon atoms, whose dynamics can be manipulated effectively by a fundamental and weaker third-harmonic two-color laser fields, especially for an oblique interference pattern. It is found that this structure is only attributed to the contributions from the forward-scattered electrons as a Coulomb effect in strong-field physics. Further, the gross structure of the oblique interference arises from the forward-scattered electron ionized within a quarter-cycle of the fundamental field, and the fine structure is identified to originate from the intercycle interference of the trajectories. Moreover, we demonstrate that the multiple interference structure can be enhanced or suppressed by adjusting the relative phase of two colors. Our investigation shows that the two-color laser fields can be tailored with the purpose of manipulating specific dynamics process, which will be helpful to resolve ultrafast spatio-temporal information from the complex interference in strong-field ionization.