Electron Interference in Molecular Circular Polarization Attosecond XUV Photoionization

Abstract

Two-center electron interference in molecular attosecond photoionization processes is investigated from numerical solutions of time-dependent Schrödinger equations. Both symmetric H\(_2^+\) and nonsymmetric HHe\(^{2+}\) one electron diatomic systems are ionized by intense attosecond circularly polarized XUV laser pulses. Photoionization of these molecular ions shows signature of interference with double peaks (minima) in molecular attosecond photoelectron energy spectra (MAPES) at critical angles \(\vartheta_c\) between the molecular \(\textbf{R}\) axis and the photoelectron momentum \(\textbf{p}\). The interferences are shown to be a function of the symmetry of electronic states and the interference patterns are sensitive to the molecular orientation and pulse polarization. Such sensitivity offers possibility for imaging of molecular structure and orbitals.

Keywords

• electron interference
• molecular photoelectron angular distribution
• attosecond circularly polarized XUV laser pulse
• molecular orientation