High-order above-threshold ionization with few-cycle pulse: a meter of the absolute phase

Angle-resolved energy spectra of high-order above-threshold ionization are calculated in the direction of the laser polarization for a linearly polarized four-cycle laser pulse (two cycles FWHM) as a function of the carrier-envelope relative phase (absolute phase). The spectra exhibit a characteristic left-right (backward-forward) asymmetry, which should allow one to determine the value of the absolute phase in a given experiment by comparison with the theoretical spectra. A classical analysis of the spectra calculated is presented. High-energy electron emission is found to occur in one or two ultrashort (< inverted exclamation mark<< 0.7 fs) bursts. In the latter case, the spectra display a peak structure whose analysis reveals a time-domain image of electron emission.