High-order above-threshold ionization with few-cycle laser pulses: Molecular improved strong-field approximation vs. molecular low-frequency approximation

We investigate high-order above-threshold ionization (HATI) of homonuclear diatomic molecules by a few-cycle laser pulse. In order to describe molecular HATI in ultrashort laser pulses we have modified our molecular improved strong-field approximation (MISFA), which was developed for long laser pulses and in which the rescattering of the ionized electron off the parent ion was described using the first-order Born approximation (1BA). Now, we introduce the so-called molecular low-frequency approximation (MLFA) in which the elastic rescattering amplitude is calculated exactly. The angle-resolved electron energy spectra for HATI of N-2 and O-2 obtained using the MLFA are compared with those obtained within the MISFA. The difference between these spectra becomes significant for larger (re)scattering angles. This is due to the fact that the exact scattering amplitude, used in the MLFA, has minima for some values of the rescattering angles that are absent in the 1BA. Also, the rescattering plateau is lower for the MLFA spectra. We investigate the influence of the carrier-envelope phase on the high-energy part of the molecular HATI spectra. As in the atomic case, the left-right (backward-forward) asymmetry is also observed in the molecular case.