Dissociation of molecules in intense laser beam

Abstract

Dissociation of molecules in the strong laser beam at the intensity of 1013–1014 W/cm2 is investigated. Experimentally, the fragmentation of neutral molecules, CH4, C2H4, C4H8; and the disintegration of molecular ions, CH4+ are studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy respectively. Some new phenomena, the strong dependence on the laser intensity, the universal dissociation, and the thorough fragmentation, are found in the fragmentation, and cannot be explained by the existing theories, as Coulomb Explosion theory or Re-scattering theory. We have suggested two new theories. The Super-excited State (SES) theory interprets the neutral fragmentation of molecules, which is stimulated to the SES by intense laser pulse. The Morse potential energy surface of the SES shows that either direct dissociation or pre-dissociation can take place in the SESs. Another theory, the theory of Field-assisted Dissociation (FAD) interprets the fragmentation of ionic molecules. According to this theory, the electric field of the laser pulse is involved directly to the dissociation process. QCT calculations for the trajectories moving on the dressed PES are performed. The result shows that the chemical bond which is parallel to the laser field vector undergo dissociation spontaneously. The dissociation takes place around 100 fs, which is in agreement with the ultrafast measurement in the pump-probe experiment.