Electron Emission from Metal Surfaces by Ultrashort Pulses: Determination of the Carrier-Envelope Phase

The phase $\phi$ of the field oscillations with respect to the peak of a laser pulse influences the light field evolution as the pulse length becomes comparable to the wave cycle and, hence, affects the interaction of intense few-cycle pulses with matter. We theoretically investigate photoelectron emission induced by an intense, few-cycle laser pulse from a metal surface (jellium) within the framework of time-dependent density functional theory and find a pronounced $\phi$ dependence of the photocurrent. Our results reveal a promising route to measuring $\phi$ of few-cycle light pulses ($\tau <6\mathrm{f}\mathrm{s}$ at $\lambda =0.8\mu \mathrm{m}$) at moderate intensity levels ($I_p\approx {10}^{12}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^2$) using a solid-state device.