Ellipticity-dependent ionization/dissociation of carbon dioxide in strong laser fields**Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB922200) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11034003 and 11274140).

Abstract

Ionization and dissociation of linear triatomic molecules, carbon dioxide, are studied in 50-fs 800-nm strong laser fields using time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The yields of double charged ions and various fragment ions (CO+, On+, and Cn+ (n = 1, 2)) are measured as a function of ellipticity of laser polarization in the intensity range from 5.0 × 1013 W/cm2 to 6.0 × 1014 W/cm2. The results demonstrate that non-sequential double ionization, which is induced by laser-driven electron recollision, dominates double ionization of CO2 in the strong IR laser field with intensity lower than 2.0 × 1014 W/cm2. The electron recollision could also have contribution in strong-field multiple ionization and formation of fragments of CO2 molecules. The present study indicates that the intensity and ellipticity dependence of ions yields can be used to probe the complex dynamics of strong-field ionization/dissociation of polyatomic molecules.