Channel-resolved subcycle interferences of electron wave packets emitted from H2 in two-color laser fields

Abstract

We report on the observation of subcycle interferences of electron wave packets released during strong field ionization of H2 with cycle-shaped two-color laser fields. With a reaction microscope we measure three-dimensional momentum distributions of photoelectrons correlated with either HC2 or protons within different energy ranges generated by dissociation of H+2 . We refer to these different types of photoelectrons as channels. Our results show that the subcycle interference structures of electron wave packets are very sensitive to the cycle shape of the two-color laser field. We explain this behavior by the dependence of the ionization time within an optical cycle on the shape of the laser field cycle. The subcycle interference structures can be further used to obtain insight into the subcycle dynamics of molecules during strong field interaction.