Ionization Study of Isomeric Molecules in Strong-field Laser Pulses

Abstract

Through the use of the technique of time-of-flight mass spectroscopy, we obtain strong-field ionization yields for randomly oriented 1,2-dichloroethylene (1,2-DCE) (C2H2Cl2) and 2-butene (C4H8). We are interested in studying the effect of conformal structure in strong-field ionization and, in particular, the role of molecular polarity. That is, we can perform strong-field ionization studies in polar vs non-polar molecules that have the same chemical composition. We report our findings through the ionization yields and the ratio (trans/cis) of each stereoisomer pair as a function of intensity.

Self-consistent predictor/corrector algorithms for stable and efficient integration of the time-dependent Kohn-Sham equation

“…Strong-field processes include high harmonic generation, 4 multi-photon ionization, 5 and above-threshold ionization. 6 The emergence of attosecond spectroscopy makes probing electronic motions possible, 7,8 and experiments can now directly probe electron dynamics to study bond breaking, 9 ionization, 10,11 and electron solvation. 12,13 Development of improved computational methods to complement these experiments is essential.…”

Heteronuclear Limit of Strong-Field Ionization: Fragmentation of HeH+ by Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses

“…1. Most polar molecules, for example HCl or CO [8][9][10], lie somewhere between the perfect symmetry of H + 2 and extreme asymmetry of HeH + . Therefore, knowledge of both is required for the general understanding of laser-induced molecular dynamics, which is necessary to form a foundation from which the behavior of more complex molecules can be predicted.…”

Quantum-chemistry-aided identification, synthesis and experimental validation of model systems for conformationally controlled reaction studies: separation of the conformers of 2,3-dibromobuta-1,3-diene in the gas phase

“…The different deflection profiles recorded for ion signals of the individual fragments are caused by the fs-laserinduced breakup of the parent DBB molecule. It is possible that the electric field of the relatively long laser pulses drives different dynamics for the polar gauche conformer than for the apolar s-trans conformer, thus leading to distinct conformer-specific fragmentation patterns; 47 these are further discussed on the next page.…”