Nonlinear optical response of an atom in the field of femtosecond laser pulses with near-atomic intensity

A theory of the nonresonant response of a single atom in a state with arbitrary magnitude and direction of the angular momentum of an atomic electron with respect to the polarization vector of the acting electromagnetic field has been developed. It has been shown that the atomic response current has a tensor structure and depends both on the direction of the angular momentum of the atom and on the polarization vector of the external field. The tensor character of the response is due to the effects of the anisotropy of probability density distribution of the atomic electron as compared to the case of the free atom. The selection rules for the axisymmetric problem of the atom in the field have been analyzed. The manifestation of the selection rules in the angular spectra of photoelectrons has been demonstrated. The probability of the ionization of the atom has been analyzed as a function of the amplitude and duration of the pulse. It has been shown that the width of the generation spectrum is a nonlinear function of the field strength and is saturated in the region of nearly atomic fields. Methods for controlling the parameters of the atomic response spectrum have been proposed on the basis of the use of a sequence of laser pulses with various time profiles, carrier frequencies, and polarization states. It has been shown that the generation of terahertz radiation is possible in the preionization regime, where the generation mechanism is attributed to atomic nonlinearity.