Anisotropic Photodetachment of Positronium Negative Ions with Linearly Polarized Light

Abstract

We report on the anisotropic photodetachment of positronium negative ions, followed by the dissociation into p-wave electrons and positronium atoms, with a linearly polarized laser beam. We have observed a strong recoil effect of the photoelectrons on the translation momentum of the dissociated positronium atoms. With polarization angle-resolved measurements, the asymmetry parameter of the photoemission angular distribution of the ions at a photon energy of 1.165 eV was determined to be 1.97±0.04(stat)±0.07(syst), in agreement with a theoretical prediction. The present method can be applied to explore the unrevealed dissociation dynamics of exotic particle systems and their manipulation with polarized light. Published by the American Physical Society 2024