DISSOCIATION, IONIZATION, AND COULOMB EXPLOSION OF H-2(+) IN AN INTENSE LASER FIELD BY NUMERICAL-INTEGRATION OF THE TIME-DEPENDENT SCHRODINGER-EQUATION

The time-dependent Schrodinger equation for H-2(+) in a strong laser field is solved numerically for a model that uses the exact three-body Hamiltonian with one-dimensional nuclear motion restricted to the direction of the laser electric field. The influence of ionization on possible stabilization against dissociation is investigated. Unexpectedly high ionization rates from high vibrational states, exceeding those of neutral atomic hydrogen, are found. The ionization rates as functions of the internuclear distance R were also calculated for fixed nuclei, and these exhibit two strong maxima at large R, which explain the full dynamical results. A series of peaks seen in the calculated proton energy spectra can therefore be interpreted as occurring preferentially at (i) turning points of laser-induced vibrationally trapped states, and (ii) at the ionization maxima that occur at large internuclear distances of H-2(+).