Frustrated tunnelling ionization during strong-field fragmentation of D 3+

Abstract

We reveal surprisingly high kinetic energy release in the intense-field fragmentation of D 3+ to D + +D + + D with 10 16 W cm -2, 790 nm, 40 fs (and 7 fs) laser pulses. This feature strongly mimics the behaviour of the D + +D + + D + channel. From the experimental evidence, we conclude that the origin of the feature is due to frustrated tunnelling ionization, the first observation of this mechanism in a polyatomic system. Furthermore, we unravel evidence of frustrated tunnelling ionization in dissociation, both two-body breakup to D + D 2+ and D + + D 2, and three-body breakup to D + +D +D. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.