1. Dopant-Induced Ignition of Helium Nanodroplets in Intense Few-Cycle Laser Pulses
- Author
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J. Jha, Thomas Pfeifer, Robert Moshammer, Frank Stienkemeier, M. Kremer, Jan M. Rost, Marcel Mudrich, L. Fechner, M. Krishnamurthy, Alexey Mikaberidze, B. Fischer, Vandana Sharma, Ulf Saalmann, Joachim Ullrich, Sivarama Krishnan, and Nicolas Camus
- Subjects
Materials science ,Dopant ,FOS: Physical sciences ,General Physics and Astronomy ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Pulse duration ,Laser ,law.invention ,Ignition system ,chemistry ,law ,Ionization ,Physics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters ,ddc:550 ,Physics - Atomic and Molecular Clusters ,Physics::Atomic Physics ,Atomic physics ,Physics::Chemical Physics ,Atomic and Molecular Clusters (physics.atm-clus) ,Absorption (electromagnetic radiation) ,Ultrashort pulse ,Helium - Abstract
We demonstrate ultrafast resonant energy absorption of rare-gas doped He nanodroplets from intense few-cycle (~10 fs) laser pulses. We find that less than 10 dopant atoms "ignite" the droplet to generate a non-spherical electronic nanoplasma resulting ultimately in complete ionization and disintegration of all atoms, although the pristine He droplet is transparent for the laser intensities applied. Our calculations at those intensities reveal that the minimal pulse length required for ignition is about 9 fs.
- Published
- 2011