Single-ionization-induced dissociation of heteronuclear diatomic molecules in strong fields

In this paper, we introduce a general technique to study dissociation channels of singly ionized heteronuclear diatomic molecules by comparing the branching ratios of these channels induced by a light field either parallel or perpendicular to the molecular axis. The experimental results show that a singly ionized heteronuclear diatomic molecule, if it dissociates, will be strongly influenced by its detailed electronic structure. Our study of single-ionization-induced dissociation demonstrates the fundamental difference between ionization dynamics in strong fields versus weak fields.