Two-, three-, and four-photon ionization of Mg in the circularly and linearly polarized laser fields: Comparative study using the Hartree-Fock and model potentials

We theoretically study multiphoton ionization of Mg in the circularly as well as the linearly polarized laser fields. Specifically two-, three-, and four-photon ionization cross sections from the ground and first excited states are calculated as a function of photon energy. Calculations are performed using the frozen-core Hartree-Fock and also the model potential approaches and the results are compared. We find that the model potential approach provide results as good as or even slightly better than those by the frozen-core Hartree-Fock approach. We also report the relative ratios of the ionization cross sections by the circularly and linearly polarized laser fields as a function of photon energy, which exhibit clear effects of electron correlations.