ANISOTROPIC FRAGMENTATION OF NITRIC OXIDE IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS
STUDIED BY SINGLE PATHWAY MASS RESOLVED MOMENTUM IMAGING


Atsushi Iwamae, Akiyoshi Hishikawa and Kaoru Yamanouchi


Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Japan


The spatial momentum vector distribution of fragment ions produced through t
he Coulomb explosion of NO in an intense laser field (1.4 PW/cm2), NO(p+q)+
-> Np+ + Oq+  (p, q = 1~3), was studied by the mass-resolved momentum imagin
g (MRMI) technique. The MRMI maps for a single pathway (p, q) were extracted
from the experimental MRMI maps on the basis of the momentum matching of the
Np+ and Oq+ ion pair. The angular distributions of the fragment ions derived
from the SP-MRMI maps were found to be described well by a molecular alignme
nt theory.