Abstract
Few-electron atoms interacting with electromagnetic fields provide for privileged scenarios for disentangling elemental correlation mechanisms. We demonstrate that high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from neutral helium presents a distinctive trace of correlation back reaction in the electron dynamics prior to ionization. We identify a mechanism in which the field interacts with one of the electrons, while the second is excited to a Rydberg level through the Coulomb interaction. As back response to this correlated excitation, the first electron is knocked down to a lower level, from which it ionizes to generate high-order harmonics. Unlike other multielectron phenomena, where the electron-field interaction is modified by cross correlations with the rest of the interacting electrons, back reaction is a mechanism of autocorrelation. Our numerical simulations reveal back reaction as a relevant aspect in HHG from correlated two-electron systems, and paves the way to disentangle valence electron-electron correlation dynamics using high-harmonic spectroscopy.
- Received 25 February 2020
- Revised 5 May 2020
- Accepted 23 June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033047
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society