Abstract
We investigate the fragmentation of the triatomic hydrogen molecule in a triple-coincidence experiment. A single rovibronic state of is laser prepared and its breakup into three hydrogen atoms is monitored by time- and position-sensitive multihit detectors. For each triple hit, the momentum vectors of the three fragments are determined. The sixfold differential cross section of the fragment momentum components in the center-of-mass frame is found to be highly structured and to depend sensitively on the initial electronic state.
- Received 3 March 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2718
©1999 American Physical Society