High-energy above-threshold detachment from negative ions

Above-threshold detachment of electrons from negative ions by an elliptically polarized laser field is analyzed within the strong-field approximation. The low-energy part of the spectrum, that is, its structure and its apparent cutoff, strongly depends on the orbital quantum number l of the initial ground state. The high-energy part is characterized by the usual extended plateau caused by rescattering, which is essentially independent of the ground state. The potential that the returning electron experiences during rescattering is modeled by the sum of a polarization potential and a static potential. This rescattering potential does not have much effect on the shape of the plateau, but it does on its height. For H⁻ (l=0), the yield of rescattered electrons is five orders of magnitude below the direct electrons, while for I⁻ (l=1) the yields only differ by a factor of 40. We also analyze the dependence of the angle-resolved energy spectrum on the ellipticity of the laser field and confirm general symmetry properties. An angle-integrated elliptic dichroism parameter is introduced and analyzed.