Triple-ionization-induced dissociation of NO in strong laser fields

In this paper, we study the dynamics of triple-ionization-induced dissociation in a heteronuclear diatomic molecule NO. Compared to homonuclear diatomic molecules, NO shows a greater complexity in its final states following triple ionization. By utilizing a well-established technique from the study of sequential versus nonsequential ionization, our study shows that both the N2+ + O+ and N+ + O2+ channels are predominately formed nonvertically through a relatively slowly dissociating N+ + O+ state. Finally, we show that both the N2+ + O+ and N+ + O2+ channels are formed at nearly the same internuclear separation that is much smaller than the critical internuclear distance, indicating that dissociative ionization of high charge states in a molecule can occur as a molecule steadily expands from its equilibrium separation rather than always at the critical internuclear distance.