Dynamic modification of the fragmentation of COq+ excited states generated with high-order harmonics

The dynamic process of fragmentation of COq+ excited states is investigated using a pump-probe approach. EUV radiation (32–48 eV) generated by high-order harmonics was used to ionize and excite CO molecules and a time-delayed infrared (IR) pulse (800 nm) was used to influence the evolution of the dissociating multichannel wave packet. Two groups of states, separable experimentally by their kinetic-energy release (KER), are populated by the EUV and lead to C+-O+ fragmentation: direct double ionization of the neutral molecule and fragmentation of the cation leading to C+-O∗, followed by autoionization of O∗. The IR pulse was found to modify the KER of the latter group in a delay-dependent way which is explained with a model calculation.