Two of the 24 highlights of the year 2006 come from the project 2-02.
Topical Review: "Above-threshold ionization by few-cycle pulses", D.B. Milosevic, G.G. Paulus, D. Bauer, and W. Becker, J. Phys. B 39, R203-262 (2006)
The term 'above-threshold ionization' refers to the properties of the angle-resolved electron spectrum measured by ionization of atoms by intense laser pulses. For 25 years, this effect has played a crucial role in the elucidation of the interaction of laser light with atoms. Due to the availability of laser pulses with a duration of only a few cycles, the temporal course of which can be controlled on top of that, new aspects of this fascinating effect have been understood in recent years.
Letter to the editors: "Attosecond electron thermalization by laser-driven electron recollision in atoms", X. Liu, C. Figueira de Morisson Faria, W. Becker, and P. B. Corkum, J. Phys. B 39, L305-311 (2006)
The work investigates backscatter as a mechanism of non-sequential multiple ionization of atoms. A very simple, almost analytically solvable model can be used by the Heidelberg Group for triple and quadruple ionization of neon [K. Zrost et al., J. Phys. B 39, 40 (2006)] describe very well. In the model, a delay is assumed between the time of the recollision and the later time at which the electrons leave the ion. This time is in the attosecond range.