Strong-field electron spectra of rare-gas atoms in the rescattering regime: enhanced spectral regions and a simulation of the experiment

We report experimental and theoretical laser-induced photoelectron spectra of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe in the direction of the laser polarization at laser intensities in the region 0.5–3.2 × 1014Wcm−2. For Ar and Xe, spectra at different angles are also presented for the laser intensities of 2.4 × 1014Wcm−2 for Ar and 1.3 × 1014Wcm−2 for Xe. Resonance-like structures evolve as a function of the laser intensity in the longitudinal spectra, which become suppressed at large angles. The simulations are in the context of the strong-field approximation, which is augmented to account for rescattering and the atom-specific electron–positive-ion scattering potentials, and they include focal averaging as well as saturation. Agreement between the data and these simulations is generally fair, especially for intensities below the saturation regime.