Calculation of multiphoton ionization amplitudes and cross sections of few-electron atoms

Abstract

We present a theoretical method for calculating multiphoton ionization amplitudes and cross sections of few-electron atoms. The present approach is based on an extraction of partial wave amplitudes from a scattering wave function, which is calculated by solving a system of driven Schroedinger equations. The extraction relies on a description of partial waves in terms of a small number of Coulomb waves with fixed wave numbers. The method can be used for photon energies below and above the ionization threshold and to treat resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization. We use it to calculate two-, three-, and four-photon ionization cross sections of hydrogen and helium atoms for a wide range of photon energies and to determine the asymmetry parameters of photoelectron angular distributions for two-, three-, and four-photon ionization of the helium atom.