Photoelectron Polarization Vortexes in Strong-Field Ionization

The spin polarization of photoelectrons induced by an intense linearly polarized laser field is investigated using numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in companion with our analytic treatment via the spin-resolved strong-field approximation and classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that, even though the total polarization vanishes upon averaging over the photoelectron momentum, momentum-resolved spin polarization is significant, typically exhibiting a vortex structure relative to the laser polarization axis. The polarization arises from the transfer of spin-orbital coupling in the bound state to the spin-correlated quantum orbits in the continuum. The rescattering of photoelectrons at the atomic core plays an important role in forming the polarization vortex structure, while there is no significant effect of the spin-orbit coupling during the continuum dynamics. Furthermore, spin-polarized electron holography is demonstrated, feasible for extracting fine structural information about the atom.