Multiphoton photoemission of laser irradiated alpha-SiO2 is studied as
a function of different laser parameters. The laser is a frequency-do
ubled or -tripled Nd-YAG laser, operated in the picosecond pulse durat
ion regime. The sample is a single crystal, cut perpendicularly to the
C-axis direction, kept under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. The
intensity dependence of the photocurrent reveals that emission at the
second harmonic frequency is throughout the whole accessible intensity
range governed by defect states, whereas at the third harmonic freque
ncy we observe a transition from a two- to three-photon dynamics, whic
h could reveal the onset of the valence band emission. However, the mo
st probable explanation is still in both cases a two-photon, defect-dr
iven, process, eventually followed by electron heating in the conducti
on band through electron-photon-phonon collisions, or by photon absorp
tion by electrons trapped in the bottom of the conduction band. The de
pendence of the photocurrent from the laser polarization direction is
shown to differ depending on whether all the emitted electrons are col
lected or only the ones emitted along the C-axis. In this last case, a
selection rule seems to apply to the emission process that yields inf
ormation about the symmetry of the emitting state.