Formation of excited neutral D* fragments from D$_2$ by a strong laser field

POSTER

Abstract

Excited neutral D* fragments from D$_2$ are produced by intense, ultra-short laser pulses ($5-85\,$fs). The kinetic energy release (KER) upon fragmentation is found to be very sensitive to laser parameters such as chirp, peak intensity, and pulse duration. Furthermore, using field ionization of highly excited D* fragments, we are able to determine the $n$ population in a range of excited states ($17\leq n\leq44$). Due to the long flight time to the detector (tens of $\mu$s), much of the initial excited population decays by spontaneous emission. We simulate this process in order to link the measured population to that created by the laser. On the technical side, we also present a scheme for determining the detection efficiency of an MCP detector for excited neutral atoms.

*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. BJ is also supported by DOE-SCGF (DE-AC05-06OR23100).

Authors

  • Ben Berry

    • Kansas State University
    • J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS USA 66506
    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • M. Zohrabi

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • Bethany Jochim

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • T. Severt

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • U. Ablikim

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • D. Hayes

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • Jyoti Rajput

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • Kanaka Raju P.

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • Peyman Feizollah

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • K.D. Carnes

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • B.D. Esry

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

  • I. Ben-Itzhak

    • J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA