Dalitz plot analysis of Coulomb exploding O-3 in ultrashort intense laser fields

摘要

The three-body Coulomb explosion of O-3, O-3(3+)-> O++O++O+, in ultrashort intense laser fields (2x10(15) W/cm(2)) is studied with two different pulse durations (9 and 40 fs) by the coincidence momentum imaging method. In addition to a decrease in the total kinetic energy release, a broadening in the Dalitz plot distribution [Philos. Mag. 44, 1068 (1953)] is observed when the pulse duration is increased from 9 to 40 fs. The analysis based on a simple Coulomb explosion model shows that the geometrical structure of O-3 remains almost unchanged during the interaction with the few-cycle intense laser fields, while a significant structural deformation along all the three vibrational coordinates, including the antisymmetric stretching coordinate, is identified in the 40 fs intense laser fields. The observed nuclear dynamics are discussed in terms of the population transfer to the excited states of O-3. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.