In our model the electron dynamics are described by a two-state approximation. This might appear a rough approximation since it neglects coupling through excited electronic states and ionization channels. However at high intensity (laser fields equivalent to the Coulomb force) and long wavelength (photon energy much lower than the ionization potential) the dissociation process occurs by adiabatic polarization involving the lowest electronic states. For the experiment in question, with intensities above 10x14 W cm-2 and photon energies of 1.5eV, such an approach is well justified. More contentious is the neglect of rotational heating (that is molecular realignment) during the pulse. However, this process is essentially an internal relaxation and for a 50fs pulse it has a small effect. To calculate the dissociation spectrum, we have applied discretization methods developed for photoionization of molecules4) to solve the quantum equations in a dual configuration and momentum space. Technical details are discussed in the paper by Peng et al.
Download