Pathway of ${\mathrm{D}}^{+}$ in sequential double ionization of ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$ in an intense laser pulse

Pathway of $D^{+}$ in sequential double ionization of $D_{2}$ in an intense laser pulse

Mohsen Vafaee and Babak Shokri

Phys. Rev. A 81, 053408 – Published 13 May 2010

Abstract

Details of the pathway for the dissociative ionization process of the ground electronic state of aligned $D_{2}^{+}$ produced from the first ionization of $D_{2}$ in a short ( $~ 100$ fs) and intense ( $4.0 \times 10^{14}$ W cm $^{- 2}$ ) 480 nm laser pulse are analyzed and visualized. The initial vibrational state of $D_{2}^{+}$ comes from the vertical transformation of the ground state of $D_{2}$ . The initial wave packet in the ground electronic state of $D_{2}^{+}$ is outgoing through a dissociation-ionization channel accompanied by a strong coupling between the $1 s σ_{g}$ and $2 p σ_{u}$ electronic states. We show explicitly that the transition from the coupling states $1 s σ_{g}$ and $2 p σ_{u}$ to the ionization state is not a direct transition, but takes place through other intermediate states having some dissociative energy that results in a relatively wide internuclear distribution of the ionization state.