Molecular oxygen observed by direct photoproduction from carbon dioxide

Abstract

We report experiments on the direct observation of molecular oxygen formation from ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$ in strong laser fields with a reaction microscope. Our accompanying simulations and pump-probe measurements suggest that ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$ molecules undergo bending motion during strong-field ionization which supports the molecular oxygen formation process. The observation of molecular oxygen formation from ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$ may trigger further experimental and theoretical studies on such processes with laser pulses, and provides hints in studies of the ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ and ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}{}^{+}$ abundance in ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$-dominated planetary atmospheres.