Observing electron localization in a dissociating H2+ molecule in real time
نویسندگان
چکیده
Dissociation of diatomic molecules with odd number of electrons always causes the unpaired electron to localize on one of the two resulting atomic fragments. In the simplest diatomic molecule H2+ dissociation yields a hydrogen atom and a proton with the sole electron ending up on one of the two nuclei. That is equivalent to breaking of a chemical bond-the most fundamental chemical process. Here we observe such electron localization in real time by performing a pump-probe experiment. We demonstrate that in H2+ electron localization is complete in just 15 fs when the molecule's internuclear distance reaches 8 atomic units. The measurement is supported by a theoretical simulation based on numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. This observation advances our understanding of detailed dynamics of molecular dissociation.
منابع مشابه
Coherent control of electron wave packets in dissociating H + 2
Coherent control of electron localization in the dissociation of a hydrogen molecular ion exposed to an attosecond pulse train and a time-delayed near-infrared laser pulse are studied by solving numerically the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The attosecond pulses in the train generate a train of electron wave packets in the dissociating molecular ion, which are steered by the near-infrare...
متن کاملSteering the electron in H2(+) by nuclear wave packet dynamics.
By combining carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stable light fields and the traditional method of optical pump-probe spectroscopy we study electron localization in dissociating H2(+) molecular ions. Localization and localizability of electrons is observed to strongly depend on the time delay between the two CEP-stable laser pulses with a characteristic periodicity corresponding to the oscillating mol...
متن کاملStrong-field modulated diffraction effects in the correlated electron-nuclear motion in dissociating H(2+).
We show that the electronic dynamics in a molecule driven by a strong field is complex and potentially even counterintuitive. As a prototype example, we simulate the interaction of a dissociating H2+ molecule with an intense infrared laser pulse. Depending on the laser intensity, the direction of the electron's motion between the two nuclei is found to follow or oppose the classical laser-elect...
متن کاملControl of electron excitation and localization in the dissociation of H2(+) and its isotopes using two sequential ultrashort laser pulses.
We study the control of dissociation of the hydrogen molecular ion and its isotopes exposed to two ultrashort laser pulses by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. While the first ultraviolet pulse is used to excite the electron wave packet on the dissociative 2psigma{u} state, a second time-delayed near-infrared pulse steers the electron between the nuclei. Our results show that by ...
متن کاملCoherent control of electron localization in a dissociating hydrogen molecular ion
We have performed ab initio numerical simulations of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of the hydrogen molecular ion interacting with one or two (time-delayed) ultrashort laser pulses. Dissociation of the molecular ion is analysed in view of an asymmetry in the electron localization on the two protons. The results show that the asymmetry is most effectively induced by the external field a...
متن کامل