Attosecond control of the dissociative ionization via electron localization: A comparison between D2 and CO

Laser pulses with stable electric field waveforms establish the opportunity to achieve coherent control on attosecond timescales. A first successful example of electron localization and its control could be demonstrated for the molecules D-2(+) and HD+. These molecules constitute simple model systems with only one electron and left the question open, whether electron localization in multi-electron systems can be achieved and controlled. In this context, we recently reported results where a high degree of light-waveform control over the directional emission of C+ and O+ fragments from the dissociative ionization of CO was observed [1]. Here, we compare and analyze the mechanisms leading to electron localization in the two different molecular systems D-2(+) and CO+. We use our recently introduced method for multi-electron systems that allows us to describe the formation of an electronic wavepacket and to follow its evolution during the dissociation process. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.