Electron kinetic energy measurements from laser irradiation of clusters

E. Springate (1) , S. A. Aseyev (1) , S. Zamith (1) , M. J. J. Vrakking (1)

1 AMOLF - FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics

We have measured electron kinetic energy spectra from the interaction of a low-density beam of noble-gas clusters with a high-intensity femtosecond laser pulse. Electron energies were measured both through their time of flight and through measurements of electron signals as a function of retarding voltages up to 7 kV. We have observed electrons with energies up to 6 keV and a sharp peak at an arrival time consistent with the detection of photons. The electrons had a broad angular distribution peaked along the polarization axis, while the sharp peak had an isotropic angular distribution. We attribute this sharp peak to uv, xuv, or x-ray photons formed as a result of the laser-cluster interaction and were unable to observe the two-lobed electron kinetic energy distribution reported by Shao et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3343 (1996)] with any combination of the laser and cluster parameters used.

E. Springate, S. A. Aseyev, S. Zamith, M. J. J. Vrakking. Electron kinetic energy measurements from laser irradiation of clusters. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1990-2015], 2003, 68, pp.053201. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.68.053201⟩. ⟨hal-00005055⟩