Wave packet dynamics in stabilization of ionization in a circularly polarized laser field

Abstract

We present the results of a quantum dynamical study of ionization stabilization of a two-dimensional hydrogen atom in an intense circularly polarized laser field. We show that stabilization can be explained by the formation of a nonspreading electron wave packet rotating with the laser frequency. The radius of the circular orbit is found to be greater than the radius of the classical circular motion of a free electron under the same laser field. We also investigate the classical nonlinear dynamics of the electron and examine the relationship between nonlinear resonance islands and the wave packet dynamics.