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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Alignment-dependent ionization of N2, O2, and CO2 in intense laser fields
Simon Petretti1, Yulian V Vanne, Alejandro Saenz
1AG Moderne Optik, Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
The ionization probability of N2, O2, and CO2 in intense laser fields is studied theoretically as a function of the alignment angle by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation numerically assuming only the single-active-electron approximation. The results are compared to recent experimental data [D. Pavicić, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 243001 (2007)] and good agreement is found for N2 and O2. For CO2 a possible explanation is provided for the failure of simplified single-active-electron models to reproduce the experimentally observed narrow ionization distribution. It is based on a field-induced coherent core-trapping effect.
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