LASER-INDUCED COMPTON-SCATTERING FROM A BOUND ELECTRON

We investigate nonrelativistically Compton scattering by an electron bound in hydrogen in a powerful laser field. The corresponding nonlinear rates and cross sections are evaluated in a Keldysh-type of approximation and compared with the rates and cross sections of multiphoton ionization and harmonic generation. We find that multiphoton ionization overshadows Compton scattering by many orders of magnitude, however, Compton scattering may well compete with harmonic generation above the ionization threshold, since, in particular, both processes have the same angular distribution and only odd harmonics can be created by bound electrons, while in bound-free Compton scattering all harmonics will be generated.