Using Circular Dichroism to Control Energy Transfer in Multiphoton Ionization

Chirality causes symmetry breaks in a large variety of natural phenomena ranging from particle physics to biochemistry. We investigate one of the simplest conceivable chiral systems, a laser-excited, oriented, effective one-electron Li target. Prepared in a polarized p state with |m|=1 in an optical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2021-01, Vol.126 (2), p.023201-023201, Article 023201
Main Authors: De Silva, A H N C, Atri-Schuller, D, Dubey, S, Acharya, B P, Romans, K L, Foster, K, Russ, O, Compton, K, Rischbieter, C, Douguet, N, Bartschat, K, Fischer, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic properties
Chirality
Circular polarization
Dichroism
Electron pulses
Electron spin
Energy resolution
Energy transfer
Femtosecond pulses
Helicity
Particle physics
Photoelectrons
System effectiveness
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Summary:Chirality causes symmetry breaks in a large variety of natural phenomena ranging from particle physics to biochemistry. We investigate one of the simplest conceivable chiral systems, a laser-excited, oriented, effective one-electron Li target. Prepared in a polarized p state with |m|=1 in an optical trap, the atoms are exposed to co- and counterrotating circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses. For a field frequency near the excitation energy of the oriented initial state, a strong circular dichroism is observed and the photoelectron energies are significantly affected by the helicity-dependent Autler-Townes splitting. Besides its fundamental relevance, this system is suited to create spin-polarized electron pulses with a reversible switch on a femtosecond timescale at an energy resolution of a few meV.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.023201