Evolution of dopant-induced helium nanoplasmas

Abstract

Two-component nanoplasmas generated by strong-field ionization of doped\nhelium nanodroplets are studied in a pump-probe experiment using few-cycle\nlaser pulses in combination with molecular dynamics simulations. High yields of\nhelium ions and a pronounced, droplet size-dependent resonance structure in the\npump-probe transients reveal the evolution of the dopant-induced helium\nnanoplasma. The pump-probe dynamics is interpreted in terms of strong inner\nionization by the pump pulse and resonant heating by the probe pulse which\ncontrols the final charge states detected via the frustration of electron-ion\nrecombination.\n