ACTA

Dissociation Dynamics of Nitrous Oxide Molecule in Strong-Field Ionization by Linearly Polarized Laser Pulse

Feras Afaneh
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa 13133, Jordan

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The dissociative ionization of nitrous oxide molecules induced by 35 fs linearly polarized laser pulses was experimentally investigated. Different dissociation channels are clearly identified from the time-of-flight coincidence spectra. The relative contributions of different double and triple dissociative ionization channels to the total fragment ion yield are deduced from the coincident spectra of these channels. The results show that a significant contribution to the total fragment ion yield arises from the double dissociative ionization channels: the denitrogenation (N₂O²⁺→N⁺+NO⁺) and the deoxygenation (N₂+O²⁺→O⁺+N₂⁺). Furthermore, a considerable contribution of the triple dissociative ionization channels to the total fragment ion yield is also observed. The channels N⁺+ NO⁺ and O⁺ + N₂⁺ can be explained by dissociation via the X³Σ^- and 1³Π states of N₂O²⁺, as the major peaks in the measured kinetic energy release spectra suggested. The angular distributions of the fragment ions N⁺, NO⁺, O⁺, and N₂⁺ resulting from the N⁺+NO⁺ and O⁺+N₂⁺ fragmentation channels were also measured. The distributions show a markedly anisotropic behavior. These anisotropic behaviors in the angular distributions can be attributed to the different orientations of the N₂O molecule relative to the laser polarization during the dissociative ionization process.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.141.461
topics: strong-field ionization, dissociative ionization, molecular fragmentation, nitrous oxide