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Control of plasmas parameters by ultrashort pulse multiphoton ionization

P.B. Corkum and N.H. Burnett

Multiphoton ionization has been widely studied because of its implications for atomic and molecular physics. Probably the most active area of current research concerns the energy of the electrons produced as a result of MPI. Experiments have found that electrons can absorb considerably more energy than the minimum required for ionization. The absorption process has become known as above-threshold ionization (or ATI). Strangely, it is rarely noted that the products are plasmas and that a detailed knowledge of both MPI and ATI could be extremely important to plasma physics.

Publish Date: 01 December 1989