Dynamical phase evolution of Coulomb-focused electrons in strong-field ionization probed by a standing light wave
Published: Sep 16, 2025
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2025
Authors:Yuan Gu, Hao Liang, Weiran Zheng, Aofan Lin, Jiaye Zhang, Zichen Li, Juan Du, Lei Ying, Peilun He, Jan-Michael Rost, Sina Jacob, Maksim Kunitski, Till Jahnke, Sebastian Eckart, Kang Lin, Reinhard Dörner
Abstract
We investigate the dynamical phase evolution of Coulomb-focused electrons in strong-field ionization. We diffract the electrons with an ultrashort standing light wave to track their time-dependent phase. Our findings show that low-energy electrons exhibit a unique chromosome-shaped diffraction pattern, distinct from higher-energy electrons. Our numerical model quantitatively reproduces the experimental results, confirming this pattern maps the electron's time-dependent phase evolution as it escapes from a Coulomb potential. Our pulsed diffraction grating technique offers a new way to sense an electron's quantum phase without interfering its release mechanism.