Efficient photo-dissociation of CH4 and H2CO molecules with optimized ultra-short laser pulses

Abstract

The fragmentation dynamics of CH4 and H2CO molecules have been studied with ultra-short pulses at laser intensityof up to 1015Wcm−2. Three dimensional molecular dynamics calculations for finding the optimized laser pulses are presented based on time-dependent density functional theory and quantum optimal control theory. A comparison of the results for orientation dependence in the ionization process shows that the electron distribution for CH4 is more isotropic than H2CO molecule. Total conversion yields of up to 70% at an orientation angle of 30o for CH4 and 65% at 900 for H2CO are achieved which lead to enhancement of dissociation probability.