  We predict that a direct bandgap semiconductor (GaAs) resonantly excited by a
strong ultrashort laser pulse exhibits a novel regime: kicked anharmonic Rabi
oscillations (KARO). In this regime, Rabi oscillations are strongly coupled to
intraband motion, and interband transitions mainly take place during short
times when electrons pass near the Brillouin zone center where electron
populations undergo very rapid changes. Asymmetry of the residual population
distribution induces an electric current controlled by the carrier-envelope
phase. The predicted effects are experimentally observable using photoemission
and terahertz spectroscopies.
