Laser Dressed Scattering of an Attosecond Electron Wave Packet

Abstract: We theoretically investigate the scattering of an attosecond electron wave packet launched by an attosecond pulse under the influence of an infrared laser field. As the electron scatters inside a spatially extended system, the dressing laser field controls its motion. We show that this interaction, which lasts just a few hundreds of attoseconds, clearly manifests itself in the spectral interference pattern between different quantum pathways taken by the outgoing electron. We find that the Coulomb-Volkov approximation, a standard expression used to describe laser-dressed photoionization, cannot properly describe this interference pattern. We introduce a quasi-classical model, based on electron trajectories, which quantitatively explains the laser-dressed photoelectron spectra, notably the laser-induced changes in the spectral interference pattern.