Abstract
Ionization and/or fragmentation of large organic molecules in strong laser fields can be quantitatively understood as a transition from adiabatic to nonadiabatic dynamics of the electronic degrees of freedom. Measurements of fragmentation patterns demonstrate regular trends as a function of the size and electronic structure of a molecule. A theoretical model is presented that agrees quantitatively with the measurements for a series of polycyclic aromatic molecules.
- Received 18 July 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.68.011402
©2003 American Physical Society