- Letter
Experimental confirmation of electron figure-8 motion in a strong laser field
Phys. Rev. A 103, L031102 – Published 29 March, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.103.L031102
Abstract
We measure polarization-resolved fundamental, second, and third harmonic nonlinear Thomson scattering out the side of a laser focus with . The separate measured polarization components are each associated with a distinct dimension of predicted electron figure-8 motion. Taken together, the measured angular emission patterns for the two polarizations unambiguously confirm the figure-8 motion. Electrons are donated from low-density helium ( to 1 Torr) ionized early during the laser pulse. Time-resolved single-photon detection is used to distinguish signal from noise.