Theory of the photoelectric effect assisted by an elliptically polarized laser field

The laser-assisted photoelectric effect in atomic hydrogen is investigated for linear, circular and general elliptic polarizations. The perturbative dressed state of the atom in an elliptically polarized nonresonant laser field is derived in the velocity gauge. The continuum state of the ejected electron is described by a Coulomb-Volkov wavefunction. Numerical results show that the ionization cross section by a vacuum ultraviolet photon is enhanced at high laser field intensities and low frequencies. At small and extremely large scattering angles (measured with respect to the wave vector of the incoming vacuum ultraviolet photon), the process for emitting a laser photon is predominant, while at medium angles, the result favours the process without a laser photon exchange. The dependence of the results on the laser polarization and on various geometries is studied, and an interesting pattern is found for the dependence on the frequency of the dressing laser; an intuitive explanation is offered.