title: Angle-resolved strong-field ionization of polyatomic molecules: more than the orbitals matters.
abstract: We compare the time- and angle-dependent strong-field ionization yields of three molecules with very similar electronic structure. A pump pulse in the deep ultraviolet excites 1,3-cyclohexadiene, α-terpinene, and α-phellandrene to their first excited state. The latter two molecules are alkyl-substituted 1,3-cyclohexadiene systems. We then measure the strong-field ionization yield due to a near infrared probe pulse as a function of delay and angle between pump and probe polarization vectors. Ab initio electronic structure calculations allow us to associate the parent ion yields with removal of an electron from a LUMO orbital (occupied after excitation by the pump). Despite the fact that the LUMO orbitals for these molecules are very similar, the angle-dependent yields are very different, indicating that it is not the orbital shape alone which determines angle-dependent ionization yields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA. oumarou.njoya@stonybrook.edu
authors.forename: Oumarou
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Njoya
authors.forename: Spiridoula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsika
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weinacht
mesh_terms: D000081005:Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; D053138:Cyclohexenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D000081005:Cyclohexane Monoterpenes; D053138:Cyclohexenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; C005403:alpha phellandrene; C018669:gamma-terpinene; C034005:1,3-cyclohexadiene