Femtosecond probing of sodium cluster ion Na sub n sup + fragmentation

Journal Article · Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Physical Review Letters; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.1512· OSTI ID:7028905

Baumert, T; Roettgermann, C; Rothenfusser, C; Thalweiser, R; Weiss, V; Gerber, G ^[1]

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1. Fakultaet fuer Physik, Universitaet Freiburg, W-7800 Freiburg (Germany)

We report on the first femtosecond time-resolved experiments in cluster physics. The photofragmentation dynamics of small sodium cluster ions Na{sub {ital n}}{sup +} have been studied with pump-probe techniques. Ultrashort laser pulses of 60-fs duration are employed to photoionize the sodium clusters and to probe the photofragments. We find that the ejection of neutral dimer Na{sub 2} and, observed for the first time, neutral trimer Na{sub 3} photofragments occur on ultrashort time scales of 2.5 and 0.4 ps, respectively. This and the absence of cluster heating reveals that direct photoinduced fragmentation processes are important at short times rather than the statistical unimolecular decay.

• OSTI ID: 7028905
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters; (United States), Vol. 69:10; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ION PAIRS
PHOTOIONIZATION
SODIUM
DIMERS
EMISSION
HEATING
LASER RADIATION
MASS SPECTRA
PULSES
TIME RESOLUTION
ALKALI METALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
IONIZATION
METALS
RADIATIONS
RESOLUTION
SPECTRA
TIMING PROPERTIES
664500* - Special Atoms & Molecules- (1992-)