MOLECULAR H-2 IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS PROBED BY ELECTRON-ELECTRON, ELECTRON-ION, AND ION-ION COVARIANCE TECHNIQUES

The techniques of electron-electron and electron-ion covariance mapping have been used to confirm that a laser of modest rise time (approximately 1 ps) and focused intensity (approximately 10(15) W/cm2) will doubly ionize H2 molecules in a sequential manner. This stepwise behavior manifests itself in structureless features on the electron-electron maps. However, the technique can be employed to search for correlated emission of two or more electrons in more complex systems. Electron-ion maps, on the other hand, can apportion the electrons in a typical photoelectron spectrum to the parent ions and to fragment ions of all energies.