Multiphoton above threshold effects in strong-field fragmentation

TL;DR

This paper investigates multiphoton dissociative ionization in molecules, revealing how multiphoton structures persist when considering all fragment energies, thus advancing understanding of correlated molecular dynamics in strong fields.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis method for strong-field molecular fragmentation by projecting the Schrödinger equation solution onto double continuum states, highlighting correlated electron-nuclear dynamics.

Findings

Multiphoton structures are preserved when all fragment energies are included.

First detailed observation of correlated electron-nuclear ionization dynamics.

Provides a new approach to analyze strong-field molecular fragmentation.

Abstract

We present a study of multiphoton dissociative ionization from molecules. By solving the time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation for H$_2^+$ and projecting the solution onto double continuum scattering states, we observe the correlated electron-nuclear ionization dynamics in detail. We show --- for the first time --- how multiphoton structure prevails as long as the energies of all fragments are accounted for. Our current work provides a new avenue to analyze strong-field fragmentation that leads to a deeper understanding of the correlated molecular dynamics.