Alignment-Dependent Ionization of N$_2$, O$_2$, and CO$_2$ in Intense Laser Fields

Simon Petretti; Yulian V. Vanne; Alejandro Saenz; Alberto Castro; Piero Decleva

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.223001

paper

Alignment-Dependent Ionization of N $_{2}$ , O $_{2}$ , and CO $_{2}$ in Intense Laser Fields

arXiv:1005.1602 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.223001

Abstract

The ionization probability of N $_{2}$ , O $_{2}$ , and CO $_{2}$ in intense laser fields is studied theoretically as a function of the alignment angle by solving the time-dependent SchrÃ¶dinger equation numerically assuming only the single-active-electron approximation. The results are compared to recent experimental data [D.~Pavi{Ä}i{Ä} et al., Phys.\,Rev.\,Lett.\ {\bf 98}, 243001 (2007)] and good agreement is found for N $_{2}$ and O $_{2}$ . For CO $_{2}$ a possible explanation is provided for the failure of simplified single-active-electron models to reproduce the experimentally observed narrow ionization distribution. It is based on a field-induced coherent core-trapping effect.

5 pages, 2 figures

Alignment-Dependent Ionization of N2​, O2​, and CO2​ in Intense Laser Fields

Abstract

Alignment-Dependent Ionization of N $_{2}$ , O $_{2}$ , and CO $_{2}$ in Intense Laser Fields