Two-photon double ionization of neon using an intense attosecond pulse train

Abstract

We present a demonstration of two-photon double ionization of neon using an intense extreme ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulse train (APT) in a photon energy regime where both direct and sequential mechanisms are allowed. For an APT generated through high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in argon we achieve a total pulse energy close to $1\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{J}$, a central energy of 35 eV, and a total bandwidth of $\ensuremath{\sim}30$ eV. The APT is focused by broadband optics in a neon gas target to an intensity of $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{12}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. By tuning the photon energy across the threshold for the sequential process the double ionization signal can be turned on and off, indicating that the two-photon double ionization predominantly occurs through a sequential process. The demonstrated performance opens up possibilities for future XUV-XUV pump-probe experiments with attosecond temporal resolution in a photon energy range where it is possible to unravel the dynamics behind direct versus sequential double ionization and the associated electron correlation effects.