Photon-momentum transfer in multiphoton ionization and in time-resolved holography with photoelectrons

In most models and theoretical calculations describing multiphoton ionization by infrared light, the dipole approximation is used. This is equivalent to setting the very small photon momentum to zero. Using numerical solutions of the two-dimensional (2-D) time-dependent Schrodinger equation for one electron (H-like) systems, we show that, for linear polarization, the radiation pressure on photoelectrons is very sensitive to the details of the ionization mechanism. The directly ionized photoelectrons, those that never recollide with the parent ion, are driven in the direction of the laser photon momentum, whereas a fraction of slower photoelectrons are pushed in the opposite direction, leading to the counterintuitive shifts observed in recent experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 243001 (2014)]. This complex response is due to the interplay between the Lorentz force and the Coulomb attraction from the ion. On average, however, the photoelectron momentum is in the direction of the photon momentum as in the case of circular polarization. The influence of the photon momentum is shown to be discernible in the holographic patterns of time-resolved atomic and molecular holography with photoelectrons, thus suggesting a new research subject in multiphoton ionization.