Dalitz plot analysis of Coulomb exploding O3 in ultrashort intense laser fields.
The three-body Coulomb explosion of O3, O3(3+)-->O++O++O+, in ultrashort intense laser fields (2x10(15) W/cm2) is studied with two different pulse durations (9 and 40 fs) by the coincidence momentum imaging method. In addition to a decrease in the total kinetic energy release, a broadening in the Dalitz plot distribution [Philos. Mag. 44, 1068 (1953)] is observed when the pulse duration is increased from 9 to 40 fs. The analysis based on a simple Coulomb explosion model shows that the geometrical structure of O3 remains almost unchanged during the interaction with the few-cycle intense laser fields, while a significant structural deformation along all the three vibrational coordinates, including the antisymmetric stretching coordinate, is identified in the 40 fs intense laser fields. The observed nuclear dynamics are discussed in terms of the population transfer to the excited states of O3.
Matsuda
Akitaka
A
Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
Takahashi
Eiji J
EJ
Hishikawa
Akiyoshi
A