Dimensional scaling treatment of stability of simple diatomic molecules induced by superintense, high-frequency laser fields

Abstract

We present results obtained using dimensional scaling with high-frequency Floquet theory to evaluate the stability of gas phase simple diatomic molecules in superintense laser fields. The large-D limit provides a simple model that captures the main physics of the problem, which imposes electron localization along the polarization direction of the laser field. This localization markedly reduces the ionization probability and can enhance chemical bonding when the laser strength becomes sufficiently strong. We find that energy and structure calculations at the large-dimensional limit (D-->infinity) for stabilities of H(2) (+), H(2), and He(2) in superintense laser fields are much simpler than at D=3, yet yield similar results to those found from demanding ab initio calculations. We also use the large-D model to predict the stability of H(2) (-) and the field strength needed to bind the "extra" electron to the H(2) molecule.