Control of spin polarization through recollisions

Using only linearly polarized light, we study the possibility of generating spin-polarized photoelectrons from xenon atoms. No net spin polarization is possible, since the xenon ground state is spinless, but when the photoelectrons are measured in coincidence with the residual ion, spin polarization emerges. Furthermore, we show that ultrafast dynamics of the recolliding photoelectrons contribute to an apparent flipping of the spin of the photoelectron, a process that has been completely neglected so far in all analyses of recollision-based processes. We link this phenomenon to the "spin-orbit clock" of the remaining ion. These effects arise already in dipole approximation.