Optical phase and the ionization-dissociation dynamics of excited H(2)

We investigate the influence of optical phase on the dynamics of hydrogen molecules excited to a spectral region with competition between predominantly rotational ionization, and dissociation. We show that an appropriate choice of optical phase changes the relative timing of the ionization and dissociation. Furthermore, the temporal width of the ionization and dissociation fluxes can also be controlled, in a matter-wave analogy of transform-limited optical pulses. The close link between the optical phase and the photoinduced electronic and molecular dynamics has important implications for femtochemistry.