Ionization in a laser-assisted ion-ion collision

The ionization of a hydrogen-like heavy ion by impact of a charged projectile under simultaneous irradiation by a short laser pulse is investigated within the non-perturbative approach, based on numerical solutions of the time-dependent Dirac equation. Special emphasis is placed on the question of whether the laser- and impact-ionization channels interfere with each other, and how this intereference affects the ionization probability. To answer this question we performed detailed calculations for the laser-assisted collisions between hydrogen-like $Pb^{81+}$ and alpha particles. The results of the calculations clearly indicate that for the experimentally relevant set of (collision and laser) parameters, the interference contribution can reach 10% and can be easily controlled by varying the laser frequency.