Mainz 2017 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 38: Atoms in Strong Fields II
A 38.2: Talk
Friday, March 10, 2017, 14:45–15:00, N 2
Sequential and Non-Sequential Pathways in the Coulomb Explosion of CH2IBr — •Katrin Reininger, Felix Schell, Friedrich Freyse, Marc Vrakking, Claus Peter Schulz, and Jochen Mikosch — Max-Born-Institut Berlin
Coulomb explosion induced by a strong laser field has the potential to uncover the positions of nuclei within a molecular system. We studied experimentally the three-body fragmentation dynamics of triply charged CH2IBr produced by strong-field ionization with intense femtosecond laser pulses. The correlated fragments CH2+, Br+, and I+ were measured in coincidence in a reaction microscope which allows to obtain their momentum vectors. The dominant pathway observed is Coulomb explosion, where the C-I and the C-Br bonds break simultaneously. A Monte-Carlo reconstruction method is used to derive the geometry of the neutral molecule, which is compared with literature values. Additionally, we observe two weak sequential dissociation pathways: (i) cleavage of the C-I bond followed by fragmentation of CH2Br2+ and (ii) cleavage of the C-Br bond followed by fragmentation of CH2I2+. Our study encourages the use of Coulomb explosion imaging as a time-resolved probe of molecular dynamics, while cautioning that it is important to understand the details of the fragmentation process.