Electron emission from metal surfaces by ultrashort pulses: determination of the carrier-envelope phase

Abstract

The phase 𝜑 of the field oscillations with respect to the peak of a laser pulse influences the light field evolution as the pulse length becomes comparable to the wave cycle and, hence, affects the interaction of intense few-cycle pulses with matter. We theoretically investigate photoelectron emission induced by an intense, few-cycle laser pulse from a metal surface (jellium) within the framework of time-dependent density functional theory and find a pronounced 𝜑 dependence of the photocurrent. Our results reveal a promising route to measuring 𝜑 of few-cycle light pulses (𝜏 <6 f⁡s at 𝜆 =0.8 𝜇⁢m) at moderate intensity levels (𝐼𝑝 ≈1012 W/c⁢m²) using a solid-state device.