Paper detail

Can strong-field ionization prepare attosecond dynamics?

Strong-field ionization (SFI) has been shown to prepare wave packets with few-femtosecond periods. Here, we explore whether this technique can be extended to the attosecond time scale. We introduce an intuitive model for predicting the bandwidth of ionic states that can be coherently prepared by SFI. This bandwidth is given by the Fourier-transformed sub-cycle SFI rate and decreases considerably with increasing central wavelength of the ionizing pulse. Many-body calculations based on time-dependent configuration-interaction singles (TDCIS) quantitatively support this result and reveal an additional decrease of the bandwidth as a consequence of channel interactions and non-adiabatic dynamics. Our results further predict that multi-cycle femtosecond pulses can coherently prepare attosecond wave packets with higher selectivity and versatility compared to single-cycle pulses.