Anticorrelation in nonsequential double ionization of helium

Abstract

We calculate the correlated two-electron momentum distributions for nonsequential double ionization of helium in a 400-nm laser pulse with a peak intensity of 6.5×1014 W/cm2, which is below the recollision threshold, by using the quantitative rescattering model in which the lowering of the threshold due to the presence of the electric field at the instant of recollision is taken into account. While distinct correlated back-to-back emission of the electrons along the polarization direction is predicted in accord with other existing theoretical simulations, we suggest an alternative mechanism that is responsible for the anticorrelation. At intensities below the recollision threshold, recollision excitation can only take place when the barrier of the Coulomb potential is sufficiently suppressed by the electric field. The excited electron begins to ionize at a "delayed"recollision time after a crossing of the field and hence the probability of being tunnel-ionized after the subsequent peak of the field is increased. It is demonstrated that the "delayed"recollision time predominantly determines the parallel momentum distribution of the tunneling electron and plays a decisive role in forming anticorrelation.