Abstract

Using nuclear wave packet techniques we show that the ionization rate in an intense laser field is very sensitive to the separation of nuclei in a molecular ion and therefore on the distribution in a plasma. The maximum we observe in the ionization rate occurs around a critical internuclear distance and is unrelated to resonances and Franck Condon overlaps. Our results are consistent with recent theoretical predictions [1-2].

© 1996 Optical Society of America