Stability limit of highly charged C60 cations produced with an intense long-wavelength laser pulse: Calculation of electronic structures by DFT and wavepacket simulation

Unraveling the Metastability of C n2+ ( n = 2-4) Clusters

Pure carbon clusters have received considerable attention for a long time. However, fundamental questions, such as what the smallest stable carbon cluster dication is, remain unclear. We investigated the stability and fragmentation behavior of C _n²⁺ ( n = 2-4) dications using state-of-the-art atom probe tomography. These small doubly charged carbon cluster ions were produced by laser-pulsed field evaporation from a tungsten carbide field emitter. Correlation analysis of the fragments detected in coincidence reveals that they only decay to C _n-1⁺ + C⁺. During C₂²⁺ → C⁺ + C⁺, significant kinetic energy release (∼5.75-7.8 eV) is evidenced. Through advanced experimental data processing combined with ab initio calculations and simulations, we show that the field-evaporated diatomic ¹²C₂²⁺ dications are either in weakly bound ³Π_u and ³Σ_g^- states, quickly dissociating under the intense electric field, or in a deeply bound electronic ⁵Σ_u^- state with lifetimes >180 ps.

Fragmentation and ionization dynamics of C60 in elliptically polarized femtosecond laser fields

Ionization and fragmentation of C60 fullerenes is studied in elliptically polarized, intense fs laser fields at 797 nm [I=(0.5-4.3)x10;{14} W cm;{-2}] and contrasted with Xe+, utilizing time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Very pronounced changes of parent and fragment ion yield as a function of ellipticity are observed. At lower intensities reduction of the ion yield for circular polarization establishes a coherent two-photon process connected with the key role of the LUMO+1(t_{1g}) "doorway state" and multielectron dynamics. Comparison with the behavior at 399 nm corroborates this finding. At high intensities enhanced fragmentation is observed which is tentatively attributed to returning loops of electron trajectories by the combined action of the C60+ field and the circular laser field.

Ultrafast energy redistribution in C(60) fullerenes: a real time study by two-color femtosecond spectroscopy

Strong-field excitation and energy redistribution dynamics of C(60) fullerenes are studied by means of time-resolved mass spectrometry in a two-color femtosecond pump-probe setup. Resonant pre-excitation of the electronic system via the first dipole-allowed HOMO-->LUMO+1(t(1g)) (HOMO denotes highest occupied molecular orbital and LUMO denotes lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) transition with ultrashort 25 fs pulses at 399 nm of some 10(12) W cm(-2) results in a highly nonequilibrium distribution of excited electrons and vibrational modes in the neutral species. The subsequent coupling among the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom is monitored by probing the system with time-delayed 27 fs pulses at 797 nm of some 10(13) W cm(-2). Direct information on the characteristic relaxation time is derived from the analysis of transient singly and multiply charged parent and fragment ion signals as a function of pump-probe delay and laser pulse intensity. The observed relaxation times tau(el) approximately 60-400 fs are attributed to different microcanonical ensembles prepared in the pre-excitation process and correspond to different total energy contents and energy sharing between electronic and vibrational degrees. The characteristic differences and trends allow one to extract a consistent picture for the formation dynamics of ions in different charge states and their fullerenelike fragments and give evidence to collective effects in multiple ionization such as plasmon-enhanced energy deposition.

Single-active-electron ionization of C60 in intense laser pulses to high charge states

Sequential ionization of the C(60) fullerene to high charge states in ultrashort intense laser pulses is investigated within the strong-field S-matrix approach. Ion yields are calculated and saturation intensities are determined for a broad range of laser wavelengths between 395 and 1800 nm at different pulse lengths. Comparisons of the S-matrix predictions for the saturation intensities with recent experimental data are in an overall satisfactory agreement, indicating that saturation of ionization of this complex molecule can be well described using the single-active-electron approach. The analysis of the results shows that the contributions from the h(u)-highest occupied molecular orbital to the ion yields dominate as compared to those from the inner valence shells h(g) and g(g). Finally, it is demonstrated that the suppression of ionization of C(60) and its ions, as observed in experiments, can be interpreted within the present theory as due to the finite cage size of the fullerenes and a multi-slit-like interference effect between partial waves emitted from the different nuclei of the fullerenes.