Quantitative comparison of experiment and theory for intense ultrashort laser-induced dissociation of H₂⁺

A.M. Sayler, F. Anis, J. McKenna, B. Gaire, Nora G. Johnson, K.D. Carnes, B.D. Esry, I. Ben-Itzhak
James R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

Experimental measurements and theoretical calculations for intense ultrashort pulse laser-induced dissociation of H₂⁺ were performed under near identical conditions producing results for quantitative comparison. The 3D momentum distribution was measured for the fragments of an H₂⁺ beam after interaction with 10 fs, 790 nm pulses at intensities of 10¹⁴, 10¹³, and 10¹² W/cm². In parallel, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation was solved in the Born-Oppenheimer representation including nuclear, rotational, and electronic excitation. To obtain angularly-resolved kinetic energy release distributions necessary to compare to measurements, the final wavefunctions, projected onto the scattering states, are averaged over the vibrational state, intensity volume, and thermal distribution appropriate to the experiment. The results of these measurements and calculations are contrasted, testing the quantitative agreement of theory and experiment for ultrashort pulses at these intensities.

This work was supported by the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, and by the National Science Foundation.

Presented at DAMOP, May 2008, in State College, PA.

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