Perturbation of water by intense light-induced fields of picosecond duration and ion-induced fields of attosecond duration

The possibility of subjecting molecules to intense electric fields of ultra short duration using fast beams of highly charged ions is explored. The mor phology of dissociative ionization of H2O in intense fields of picosecond a nd attosecond duration is found to be significantly different. Such fields, produced in laser-H2O interactions and in collisions with 50-100 MeV Si-3,Si-8+ ions, are of approximately the same magnitude but have different dir ectional properties. [S1050-2947(99)04304-8].