Explosive photodissociation of methane induced by ultrafast intense laser

A new type of molecular fragmentation induced by femtosecond intense laser at the intensity of 2x10(14) W/cm(2) is reported. For the parent molecule of methane, ethylene, n-butane, and 1-butene, fluorescence from H (n=3 -> 2), CH (A (2)Delta, B (2)Sigma(-), and C (2)Sigma(+)-> X (2)Pi), or C-2 (d (3)Pi(g)-> a (3)Pi(u)) is observed in the spectrum. It shows that the fragmentation is a universal property of neutral molecule in the intense laser field. Unlike breaking only one or two chemical bonds in conventional UV photodissociation, the fragmentation caused by the intense laser undergoes vigorous changes, breaking most of the bonds in the molecule, like an explosion. The fragments are neutral species and cannot be produced through Coulomb explosion of multiply charged ion. The laser power dependence of CH (A -> X) emission of methane on a log-log scale has a slope of 10 +/- 1. The fragmentation is thus explained as multiple channel dissociation of the superexcited state of parent molecule, which is created by multiphoton excitation. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.