Small rare gas clusters in laser fields: ionisation and absorption at long and short laser wavelengths

The interaction of short laser pulses with small rare gas clusters is investigated by using a microscopic, semi-classical model with an explicit treatment of the inner-atomic dynamics. Field and collisional ionisation as well as recombination are incorporated self-consistently so that the use of rates for these processes could be avoided. The laser absorption and ionisation mechanisms in clusters at near-infrared (800nm) and VUV wavelength (100nm) are analysed.