Space-charge effect on the energy spectrum of photoelectrons produced by high-intensity short-duration laser pulses on a metal

Abstract

We consider the photoelectron spectra produced by a high-intensity short-duration laser pulse on a metal and present the results of a computer simulation of the electron-energy variations in a diode and beyond it, taking into account the space-charge effect. We show that the energy increase in the diode is indeed responsible for the unexpectedly high-electron-energy spectrum observed in a recent experiment by Farkas and Toth [Phys. Rev. A 41, 4123 (1990)].