Direct signature of light-induced conical intersections in diatomics

TL;DR

This paper provides direct experimental evidence of light-induced conical intersections in diatomic molecules by analyzing photodissociation of D2+ and observing a distinctive angular distribution of fragments.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of laser-induced conical intersections in diatomic molecules through a clear experimental signature in photodissociation.

Findings

Robust angular distribution signature of LICIs in D2+

Evidence of LICIs affecting molecular dynamics

Confirmation of theoretical predictions about LICIs in diatomics

Abstract

Nonadiabatic effects are ubiquitous in physics, chemistry and biology. They are strongly amplified by conical intersections (CIs) which are degeneracies between electronic states of triatomic or larger molecules. A few years ago it has been revealed that CIs in molecular systems can be formed by laser light even in diatomics. Due to the prevailing strong nonadiabatic couplings, the existence of such laser-induced conical intersections (LICIs) may considerably change the dynamical behavior of molecular systems. By analyzing the photodissociation process of the D2+ molecule carefully, we found a robust effect in the angular distribution of the photofragments which serves as a direct signature of the LICI providing undoubted evidence for its existence.