Strong-field above-threshold photoemission from sharp metal tips

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Dec 17;105(25):257601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.257601. Epub 2010 Dec 14.

Abstract

We present energy-resolved measurements of electron emission from sharp metal tips driven with low energy pulses from a few-cycle laser oscillator. We observe above-threshold photoemission with a photon order of up to 9. At a laser intensity of ∼ 2 × 10(11) W/cm2 the suppression of the lowest order peak occurs, indicating the onset of strong-field effects. We also observe peak shifting linearly with intensity, with a slope of around -1.0 eV/(10(12) W/cm2). We attribute the magnitude of the laser field effects to field enhancement taking place at the tip's surface.