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Updated: Jul 23, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
Intense-field double ionization of helium: identifying the mechanism
1Institut fur Physikalische Chemie, Am Hubland, 97074 Wurzburg, Germany and Institut fur Theoretische Physik, Am Hubland, 97074 Wurzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We present quantum mechanical calculations of the electron and ion momentum distributions following double ionization of a one-dimensional helium atom by ultrashort laser pulses (780 nm) at various intensities. The two-electron momentum distributions exhibit a clear transition from nonsequential to sequential double ionization. We provide strong evidence that rescattering is responsible for nonsequential ionization by calculating the momentum spectrum of the He2+ recoil ions-which we find in excellent agreement with recent experiments-and by analyzing the electronic center-of-mass motion via Wigner transforms.
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