Two-center interference effects on the orientation dependence of the strong-field double-ionization yields for hydrogen molecules

Abstract

In the present paper we investigate the orientation dependence of the nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) of a hydrogen molecule (H${}_{2}$) exposed to a strong laser field analytically within the strong-field approximation. Our calculations demonstrate that the NSDI yields can increase with the increase of the molecular alignment angle; i.e., the alignment dependence of the NSDI yields exhibit a reversed tendency compared to that of the single-ionization yields. This striking phenomenon is identified as a signal of quantum interference, which arises from the two-center structure of the diatomic molecule and can lead to the dramatic suppression of the NSDI rates at small alignment angles. Moreover, the interference effect can be altered by both laser intensity and internuclear distance. The above finding indicates that the two-center interference can affect NSDI yields dramatically in certain cases and therefore suggests a feasible way to observe the interference effect indirectly in NSDI experiments.