Light waveform controlled electron dynamics in the dissociative ionization of CO

Abstract

Laser pulses with stable electric field waveforms open the door for coherent control on attosecond timescales. First successful experimental demonstrations were reported for electron localization in the dissociative ionization of the prototype molecules D 2 and HD [1, 2]. The steering of the one electron, remaining after ionization, originates from a CEP controlled coherent superposition of two electronic states which finally controls the localization of the electron upon the break-up of the molecule. Here, we present theoretical results and analysis of the experimental findings for the direct strong-field control of electronic motion in the multi-electron system CO+.