Femtosecond time-resolved wave packet motion in molecular multiphoton ionization and fragmentation

The dynamics of molecular multiphoton ionization and fragmentation of a diatomic molecule (Na_2) have been studied in molecular beam experiments. Femtosecond laser pulses from an amplified colliding-pulse mode-locked (CPM) ring dye laser are employed to induce and probe the molecular transitions. The final continuum states are analyzed by photoelectron spectroscopy, by ion mass spectrometry and by measuring the kinetic energy of the formed ionic fragments. Pump-probe spectra employing 70-fs laser pulses have been measured to study the time dependence of molecular multiphoton ionization and fragmentation. The oscillatory structure of the transient spectra showing the dynamics on the femtosecond time scale can best be understood in terms of the motion of wave packets in bound molecular potentials. The transient Na_2^+ ionization and the transient Na^+ fragmentation spectra show that contributions from direct photoionization of a singly excited electronic state and from excitation and autoionization of a bound doubly excited molecular state determine the time evolution of molecular multiphoton ionization.