Polarization-dependent high-intensity Kapitza-Dirac effect in strong laser fields

We study the deflection of photoelectrons in intense elliptically polarized standing light waves, known as the high-intensity Kapitza-Dirac effect. In order to compute the longitudinal momentum transfer to the photoelectron in above-threshold ionization, we utilize a complete description of the quantum dynamics in the spatially dependent field of the standing light wave. We propose experimental conditions under which low-energy photoelectrons can be generated with remarkably high longitudinal momenta that can be controlled via the polarization of the standing wave. We expect that future experimental realizations will provide additional insights into the momentum transfer in intense laser-atom interactions.