Dynamics of triple-ionization-induced dissociation in diatomic molecules in strong fields

In this paper, we report the first comparison study between N2 and O2 on their triple-ionization-induced dissociation channels using near-IR 800-nm ultrashort laser pulses. Our experiment shows that the O2+ + O+ channel is predominately formed nonvertically through the intermediate O+ + O+ channel, while the N2+ + N+ channel appears to be formed vertically at the lower intensity range but nonvertically at higher intensities. Interestingly, N2+ + N+ appears to be in the electronically excited state when it is reached vertically in the lower intensity range. The different triple ionization and dissociation behaviors between N2 and O2 can be understood by considering the ionization dynamics of the two molecules in our ultrashort laser pulses.