Effect of Orbital Symmetry on Time–Energy Distributions of F⁻ Ions in the Attoclock Scheme

Abstract

The mapping relation between the emission angle of the photoelectron and its ionization time (i.e., the angle–time mapping) is important for the attoclock measurement. For a long time, the angle–time mapping was assumed to be angularly uniform. Recent investigations have demonstrated that the angle–time mapping is discontinuous for the low-energy electron at the angle for the minimum yield. However, the previous results were interpreted based on the assumption of s-electron initial states for noble-gas atoms, and the effect of the initial orbital symmetry on the angle–time mapping has been rarely investigated. In this work, we investigate the influence of the initial orbital symmetry on time–energy distribution using F− ions as a specific example. We demonstrate that the initial orbital symmetry significantly impacts the time–energy distribution. This behavior can be well explained by the saddle-point method. More interestingly, it is found that the angle–time mapping is strongly dependent on the initial orbital symmetry in the elliptically polarized laser field, especially for the low-energy electrons. Our work holds great significance for further developing the attoclock scheme.

Keywords

• attoclock
• negative fluorine ions
• orbital symmetry
• time–energy distribution