Measurements of intense ultrafast laser-driven D3+ fragmentation dynamics

Abstract

Experiments on the triatomic hydrogen molecular ion in intense ultrashort laser pulses are important for understanding the fundamentals of polyatomic molecular dynamics and for providing a benchmark for theory. Here we extend our earlier measurements [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 103004 (2009)] to provide a comprehensive picture of D3+ fragmentation in 7- and 40-fs, 790-nm laser pulses at intensities up to 1016 W/cm2. Our measurements incorporate two- and three-body coincidence three-dimensional momentum imaging involving a crossed-beam setup. We provide details of the relative fragmentation rates of all the possible breakup channels as a function of intensity, as well as kinetic energy release and angular distributions.