Observation of Quantum Interferences via Light-Induced Conical Intersections in Diatomic Molecules.
We observe energy-dependent angle-resolved diffraction patterns in protons from strong-field dissociation of the molecular hydrogen ion H_{2}^{+}. The interference is a characteristic of dissociation around a laser-induced conical intersection (LICI), which is a point of contact between two surfaces in the dressed two-dimensional Born-Oppenheimer potential energy landscape of a diatomic molecule in a strong laser field. The interference magnitude and angular period depend strongly on the energy difference between the initial state and the LICI, consistent with coherent diffraction around a cone-shaped potential barrier whose width and thickness depend on the relative energy of the initial state and the cone apex. These findings are supported by numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for similar experimental conditions.
Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
Adi
A
Natan
Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.|Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Matthew R
MR
Ware
Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005, India.
Vaibhav S
VS
Prabhudesai
Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Uri
U
Lev
Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Barry D
BD
Bruner
Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Oded
O
Heber
Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.|Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.|Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Philip H
PH
Bucksbaum