Time-resolved reaction imaging by intense few-cycle laser pulses and laser high-order harmonics

Abstract

We discuss two novel approaches to visualize ultrafast dynamics of polyatomic molecules using few-cycle intense laser pulses and the high-order harmonics in the soft X-ray region, respectively. First, we present the real-time Coulomb explosion imaging of ultrafast isomerization of C 2D22+ by using intense few-cycle laser pulses (<10 fs, ∼1 PW/cm2, ∼800 nm) to show that the hydrogen migration proceeds recurrently in competition with the molecular dissociation. Secondly, we present a new experimental setup for the real-time inner-core excitation imaging, focusing on the generation and separation of the light source using the 59th order harmonic pulses (∼91 eV) and their characteristics. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.