Internuclear-distance and angle dependence of strong-field ionization rates of UV-dissociated halomethanes.
POSTER
Abstract
The dependence of the strong-field ionization rates of iodine-containing halomethanes on the iodine-carbon internuclear-distance and the orientation of molecular bonds with respect to the polarization direction of an infrared laser field is investigated utilizing a UV pump-NIR probe technique. Excitation at 258 nm initiates a resonant single-photon absorption cleaving the carbon-iodine bond. A subsequent NIR laser pulse ionizes the dissociating molecule at different delays. Measuring single and double ionization rates as a function of pump-probe delay allows the determination of their internuclear-distance dependence. Furthermore, by determining the delay-dependence of the fragment ion angular distributions, the gradual transition of the ionization from the molecular to the atomic limit is probed. \textit{Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant no.~DE-FG02-86ER13491}.