Angular Distribution of Atomic Photoelectrons as a Function of Photon Field Polarization: Case of Ns-type Light Atoms

Abstract

The angular distribution of the atomic photoelectrons gives us information on the evolution of the field of the photoelectrons in different directions concerning the incident direction of the electromagnetic radiation which is absorbed by the atom and its direction of polarization. Here, the angular distribution of atomic photoelectrons as a function of photon field polarization was studied theoretically using monocentric wave functions to investigate the influence of polarization on the theoretical results. A GEANT4 modeling calculation based on the Monte Carlo code was made on the helium atom. The calculations were performed at low energy above the atomic ionization threshold. The results obtained by analytical calculation for the total photoionization cross-section were compared with those obtained by a simulation calculation using GEANT4 modeling. A reasonable agreement was observed following this comparison for a range of energy considered in this study.