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SYTL: Symposium Interactions between Twisted Light and Particles
SYTL 2: Symposium on interactions between twisted light and particles II (SYTL)
SYTL 2.3: Talk
Friday, March 27, 2015, 15:30–15:50, C/gHS
Electron-spin dynamics in elliptically polarized light — •Heiko Bauke1, Sven Ahrens1, Rainer Grobe2, and Christoph H. Keitel1 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg — 2Intense Laser Physics Theory Unit and Department of Physics, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 61790–4560 USA
Electrons as well as elliptically polarized light carry spin angular momentum. Although it is well-known that different angular momentum degrees of freedom may couple to each other, the coupling of electronic and photonic spin degrees of freedom has been considered rarely. We demonstrate that the photonic spin density can induce electron-spin precession [1, 2]. This effect is of similar origin as the well-known spin-orbit coupling. The spin-precession frequency is proportional to the product of the laser field’s intensity and its spin density. The electron-spin dynamics is analyzed by employing exact numerical methods as well as time-dependent perturbation theory based on the fully relativistic Dirac equation and on the nonrelativistic Pauli equation that is amended by a relativistic correction that accounts for the light’s spin density. Although, the predicted spin precession is an intrinsic relativistic effect it may be observed also at nonrelativistic laser intensities.
[1] H. Bauke, S. Ahrens, C. H. Keitel, R. Grobe, New Journal of Physics, 16, 103028 (2014)
[2] H. Bauke, S. Ahrens, R. Grobe, Phys. Rev. A, 90, 052101 (2014)