Complete characterization of molecular dynamics in ultrashort laser fields

Reaction Microscope-based, complete, and time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging of vibrating and dissociating D-2(+) molecules with femtosecond time-resolution allowed us to perform an internuclear distance (R-)dependent Fourier analysis of the corresponding wave packets. Calculations demonstrate that the obtained two-dimensional R-dependent frequency spectra enable the complete characterization of the wave packet dynamics and directly visualize the field-modified molecular potential curves in intense, ultrashort laser pulses.