Abstract

There have been many experimental and theoretical investigations of the interaction of high intensity infrared light with strongly bound diatomic molecules. All indicate that infrared multiphoton dissociation will only occur at very high intensities. We report the first observation of infrared multiphoton dissociation of a strongly bound diatomic molecule using HCl⁺. Furthermore, dissociation is observed at intensities of less that 10¹⁴W/cm². We show that the dissociation threshold is determined by coupling of highly nonresonant electronic states, a process not included in previous theories.

© 1992 The Author(s)