Plateau Structure in Resonant Laser-Assisted Electron-Atom Scattering

Orders of magnitude increases are predicted in the cross sections for electron-atom scattering accompanied by absorption or emission of n laser photons for incident electron energies at which the electron, by emitting μ laser photons, can be captured by the atom to form a negative ion. Enhancements are most significant in the plateau region (n \u3e\u3e μ) of the scattered electron spectrum, whose shape is predicted to replicate that of the ion’s (n + μ)-photon detachment spectrum