Dynamics of electronic and nuclear motion in a molecular hydrogen ion in a strong laser field

Abstract

The dynamics of the electron and ion subsystems of a molecular hydrogen ion in the field of femtosecond titanium-sapphire laser radiation is investigated by using numerical simulation. The dependence of the probability of ionization and excitation of various electron states of H 2 + on the radiation intensity and on the orientation of the molecule axis relative to the direction of polarization of the electric field of the wave is investigated. It is shown that the population of all electronic states of the molecule (except the ground state and the first excited state) is negligibly low in a wide range of radiation intensity. In such a situation, if the probability of system ionization is also low, the dynamics of vibration-rotation motion of nuclei in the molecule can be considered in the approximation of two potential surfaces (energy levels). The possibility of the effective orientation of the molecular axis along the direction of the electric field of the wave in the absence of dissociation of the system is considered.