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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Multiphoton ionization in dielectrics: comparison of circular and linear polarization
V V Temnov1, K Sokolowski-Tinten, P Zhou
1Institut für Experimentelle Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Ionization mechanisms in bulk dielectrics irradiated by single intense 50-fs-laser pulses are investigated by ultrafast time-resolved imaging interferometry. Polarization-sensitive 6-photon ionization is shown to be the dominant ionization mechanism in fused silica and sapphire at intensities around 10 TW/cm2. For both materials the cross sections of 6-photon ionization are found to be significantly higher for linear polarization than for circular. Our experimental results corroborate an earlier theoretical prediction on the dominance of linear polarization in high-order multiphoton ionization.
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