COULOMB EXPLOSION OF CO2 IN AN INTENSE FEMTOSECOND LASER FIELD

The Coulomb explosion of CO2 into multicharged atomic ions is investig ated following the ejection of up to 9 electrons by an intense femtose cond laser field. The identification of several fragmentation channels O(Z+)+C(Z'+)+O(Z''+) is performed from triple ion correlation experim ents. As already observed for the Coulomb explosion of N2 by a strong picosecond laser field, the measured kinetic energy releases are 50% w eaker than the Coulomb repulsion energies calculated at the equilibriu m internuclear distances. In addition, there is evidence for bending o f the molecule during the explosion around the average linear structur e. This experimental observation is tentatively assigned to bending vi brations arising from the violent laser-induced alignment of the molec ule along the laser polarization direction before the explosion.