Ionization of molecular hydrogen and deuterium by a frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser pulses

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed theoretical analysis of how molecular hydrogen and deuterium ionize under intense 400 nm laser pulses, considering different orientations, internuclear distances, and pulse durations, using a non-perturbative quantum approach.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive non-perturbative method to model the ionization of diatomic molecules under intense laser fields, accounting for electron correlation and molecular orientation.

Findings

Ionization yields depend on internuclear separation and orientation.

The two-center molecular structure influences ionization behavior.

Results help distinguish molecular effects from atomic models.

Abstract

A theoretical study of the intense-field single ionization of molecular hydrogen or deuterium oriented either parallel or perpendicular to a linear polarized laser pulse (400 nm) is performed for different internuclear separations and pulse lengths in an intensity range of $(2-13)\times10^{13} $W cm$^{-2}$. The investigation is based on a non-perturbative treatment that solves the full time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation of both correlated electrons within the fixed-nuclei and the dipole approximation. The results for various internuclear separations are used to obtain the ionization yields of molecular hydrogen and deuterium in their ground vibrational states. An atomic model is used to identify the influence of the intrinsic diatomic two-center character of the problem.