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We report a quantitative investigation of competition between dissociation and ionization in four-photon excited Hz. The C 'II"v =0-4, N=1 -3 states are prepared by three-photon excitation from the ground state. Absorption of a fourth photon from the same laser pulse leads either to H2++e or H+H(n =3,4). This branching is monitored in photoelectron spectra, taken with a novel magnetic bottle electron spectrometer based on a permanent magnet design. The competition between dissociation and ionization shows a pronounced dependence on the symmetry, vibrational, and rotational quantum numbers of the C state. We attempt to explain this dependence in terms of excitation of dissociative H& states in the H2+ ionization continuum from which both autoionization and dissociation may occur.

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