Multiphoton ionization of many-electron atoms and highly-charged ions in intense laser fields: a relativistic time-dependent density functional theory approach

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms Vol. 408; pp. 276 - 279
• Main Authors: Tumakov, Dmitry A., Telnov, Dmitry A., Maltsev, Ilia A., Plunien, Günter, Shabaev, Vladimir M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2017
• Subjects: Highly charged ions; Intense laser fields; Ionization; Intense laser fields; Ionization; Highly charged ions
• ISSN: 0168-583X; 1872-9584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2017.04.018

We develop an efficient numerical implementation of the relativistic time-dependent density functional theory (RTDDFT) to study multielectron highly-charged ions subject to intense linearly-polarized laser fields. The interaction with the electromagnetic field is described within the electric dipole approximation. The resulting time-dependent relativistic Kohn–Sham (RKS) equations possess an axial symmetry and are solved accurately and efficiently with the help of the time-dependent generalized pseudospectral method. As a case study, we calculate multiphoton ionization probabilities of the neutral argon atom and argon-like xenon ion. Relativistic effects are assessed by comparison of our present results with existing non-relativistic data.