Towards Atom-Scale Spin-Selective Electron Emitters Based On Strong-Field Freeman Resonant Ionization

To produce electrons with well-defined spin via photoionization, realizing orbital-resolved ionization is the prerequisite due to spin-orbital coupling. In this paper, we numerically and experimentally demonstrate that the electrons emitted from two original energy degenerated orbitals (j = 3/2, m = 1 and j = 3/2, m = -1) of Xe atoms can be well separated in the energy domain through selectively achieving Freeman resonance during strong-field ionization using a circularly polarized laser field. This orbital resolved Freeman resonant ionization leads to strong spin sensitivity without the need of fine laser frequency and intensity tuning. This result enables the production of high-degree spin-polarized electrons by energy gating, which provides a unique degree of freedom for advancing many promising applications.