Controlling Three-Dimensional Electron–Electron Correlation via Elliptically Polarized Intense Laser Field

The three-dimensional electron–electron correlation in an elliptically polarized laser field is investigated based on a semiclassical model. Asymmetry parameter \alpha of the correlated electron momentum distribution is used to quantitatively describe the electron–electron correlation. The dependence of \alpha on ellipticity \varepsilon is totally different in three directions. For the z direction (major polarization direction), \alpha first increases and reaches a maximum at \varepsilon=0.275, then it decreases quickly. For the y direction in which the laser field is always absent, the ellipticity has a minor effect, and the asymmetry parameter fluctuates around \alpha=-0.15. However, for the x direction (minor polarization direction), \alpha increases monotonously with ellipticity though starts from the same value as in the y direction when \varepsilon=0. The behavior of \alpha in the x direction actually indicates a transformation from the Coulomb interaction dominated correlation to the laser field dominated correlation. Therefore, our work provides an efficient way to control the three-dimensional electron–electron correlation via an elliptically polarized intense laser field.