Abstract: The strong-field molecular dynamics is studied by direct numerical integration of the non-stationary Schroedinger equation for laser pulses of femtosecond duration. The calculations are performed beyond the Born–Oppenheimer approximation with both electronic and rotational degrees of freedom being taken into account. The rotational dynamics is confirmed to play a significant role during molecular ionization. Nevertheless, a range of parameters is found that provide molecular ionization to be correctly described under assumption of “frozen” molecular axis orientation. Using this model the results of 3D electron dynamics of a molecule are obtained. For ultrashort pulses a 3D account of the electronic degrees of freedom is proved to provide a full description of the strong-field molecular behavior.
Strong-field short-pulse ionization of the molecular hydrogen ion
C R Mendez1, J R Vazquez de Aldana1, L Plaja1, L Roso1, A M Popov2, O V Tikhonova2, P A Volkov2 and E A Volkova2
Published 17 December 2003 • Laser Physics Letters, Volume 1, Number 1
