Control of atomic dynamics in laser-assisted electron-atom scattering through the driving-laser ellipticity

Orders of magnitude increases of the cross sections are predicted for laser-assisted low-energy electron-atom scattering (accompanied by absorption of laser photons) as the laser ellipticity is increased. These ellipticity-controlled enhancements are manifestations of the field-free electron-atom scattering dynamics, such as the Ramsauer-Townsend effect in low-energy elastic electron-atom scattering. The strong sensitivity of laser-assisted scattering cross sections to this dynamics and the laser ellipticity is illustrated for e-Ne and e-Ar scattering in both midinfrared (λ = 3.5 μm) and CO2 (λ = 10.6 μm) laser fields of moderate intensities