Alignment-dependent strong field ionization of molecules

We demonstrate a method to measure strong field laser ionization of aligned molecules. The method employs a macroscopic field-free dynamic alignment, which occurs during revivals of rotational wave packets produced by a femtosecond laser pulse. We investigate the dependence of strong field ionizatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2003-06, Vol.90 (23), p.233003-233003, Article 233003
Main Authors: Litvinyuk, I V, Lee, Kevin F, Dooley, P W, Rayner, D M, Villeneuve, D M, Corkum, P B
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We demonstrate a method to measure strong field laser ionization of aligned molecules. The method employs a macroscopic field-free dynamic alignment, which occurs during revivals of rotational wave packets produced by a femtosecond laser pulse. We investigate the dependence of strong field ionization of N2 on molecular orientation. We determine that N2 molecules are four times more likely to ionize when aligned parallel to the field than when aligned perpendicular to it.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.233003