https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00131-8
Above-threshold ionization photoelectron spectrum from quantum trajectory
1
State Key Laboratory of Magnetic
Resonances and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of
Physics and Mathematics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, P.R. China
2
Graduation University of Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing, 100081, P.R. China
3
Center for Cold Atom Physics,
The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, P.R. China
Corresponding author: a qycai@wipm.ac.cn
Received:
19
February
2009
Revised:
9
March
2009
Published online:
1
May
2009
Many nonlinear quantum phenomena of intense laser-atom physics can be intuitively explained with the concept of trajectory. In this paper, Bohmian mechanics (BM) is introduced to study a multiphoton process of atoms interacting with the intense laser field: above-threshold ionization (ATI). Quantum trajectory of an atomic electron in intense laser field is obtained from the Bohm-Newton equation first and then the energy of the photoelectron is gained from its trajectory. With energies of an ensemble of photoelectrons, we obtain the ATI spectrum which is consistent with the previous theoretical and experimental results. Comparing BM with the classical trajectory Monte-Carlo method, we conclude that quantum potential may play a key role to reproduce the spectrum of ATI. Our work may present a new approach to understanding quantum phenomena in intense laser-atom physics with the image of trajectory.
PACS: 03.65.Ta – Foundations of quantum mechanics / 42.50.Hz – Multiphoton processes
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2009
