Control of atomic dynamics in laser-assisted electron-atom scattering through the driving-laser ellipticity

Orders of magnitude increases of the cross sections are predicted for laser-assisted low-energy electron-atom scattering (accompanied by absorption of laser photons) as the laser ellipticity is increased. These ellipticity-controlled enhancements are manifestations of the field-free electron-atom scattering dynamics, such as the Ramsauer-Townsend effect in low-energy elastic electron-atom scattering. The strong sensitivity of laser-assisted scattering cross sections to this dynamics and the laser ellipticity is illustrated for e-Ne and e-Ar scattering in both midinfrared (lambda = 3.5 mu m) and CO2 (lambda = 10.6 mu m) laser fields of moderate intensities. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.87.033414