Structured photoelectron distributions in photodetachment induced by trains of laser pulses: Vortices versus spirals
Lei Geng, F. Cajiao Vélez, J. Z. Kamiński, Liang-You Peng, K. Krajewska
Abstract
The formation of quantum vortices in photodetachment by a sequence of left- and right-handed circularly polarized laser pulses in various configurations is analyzed using either the strong-field approximation or numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. Two types of pulse sequences are considered: reducible and irreducible. While the former can be decomposed into series of consecutive and identical (irreducible) subtrains of pulses, the latter cannot be decomposed in that way. As we show, the vortex pattern in the probability amplitude of photodetachment is fully determined by the irreducible pulse configuration. Additional repetitions of an irreducible train create, in the three-dimensional momentum space, nonvortex nodal surfaces, the position of which is estimated. The conditions for the experimental observation of quantum vortices are also determined.