Abstract

Similar to atoms, simple two-atomic molecules show an excessive double ionization probability in high intensity ultra-short laser pulses indicative of non-sequential double ionization (NSDI). The presence of rescattering electrons, which is at the basis of atomic NSDI, was recently also found for the H₂ molecule. Thus, one may expect electron scattering to be also the main mechanism for molecular NSDI in general. We are reporting here on the first differential investigations on double ionization of N₂ and O₂ in order to identify the molecular NSDI mechanism and to investigate possible effects of the initial bound molecular state on NSDI.

© 2004 Optical Society of America