Relativistic treatment of hole alignment in noble gas atoms

Abstract

The development in attosecond physics allows for unprecedented control of atoms and molecules in the time domain. Here, ultrashort pulses are used to prepare atomic ions in specific magnetic states, which may be important for controlling charge migration in molecules. Our work fills the knowledge gap of relativistic hole alignment prepared by femtosecond and attosecond pulses. The research focuses on optimizing the central frequency and duration of pulses to exploit specific spectral features, such as Fano profiles, Cooper minima, and giant resonances. Simulations are performed using the Relativistic Time-Dependent Configuration-Interaction Singles method. Ultrafast hole alignment with large ratios (on the order of one hundred) is observed in the outer-shell hole of argon. An even larger alignment (on the order of one thousand) is observed in the inner-shell hole of xenon. In this work, the authors investigate the distribution of holes with different magnetic quantum numbers in noble gas atoms, ionized by femtosecond and attosecond pulses. They achieve high control over hole alignment by adjusting pulse parameters and exploiting specific spectral features.