Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW A
Volume 83, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.013417
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Chemical Sciences, Geo-sciences and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy
- National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We studied the nuclear dynamics in diatomic molecules (N-2, O-2, and CO) following their interaction with intense near-IR few-cycle laser pulses. Using Coulomb-explosion imaging in combination with the pump-probe approach, we mapped dissociation pathways of those molecules and their molecular ions. We identified all symmetric and asymmetric breakup channels for molecular ions up to N-2(5+), O-2(4+), and CO4+. For each of those channels we measured the kinetic energy release (KER) spectra as a function of delay between the pump and probe pulses. For both N-2 and O-2 the asymmetric (3,1) channel is only observed for short (< 20 fs) delays and completely disappears after that. We interpret this observation as a signature of electron localization taking place in dissociating molecular tri-cations when their internuclear separation reaches about 2.5 times the equilibrium bond length. This is a direct confirmation that electron localization plays an essential role in the universal mechanism of enhanced ionization in homonuclear diatomic molecules. Using classical and quantum mechanical simulations of the time-dependent KER spectra, we identify the pathways and intermediate states involved in the laser-induced dissociation of those molecules.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available