Multi-electron dissociative ionization of clusters under picosecond and femtosecond laser irradiation: the case of alkyl-halide clusters

The multi-electron dissociative ionization (MEDI) of alkyl-halide clusters induced by 35 ps (at 266, 532 and 1064 nm) and 20 fs (at 400 and 800 nm) laser pulses is reported. In most cases, the MEDI of clusters is observed at substantially lower laser intensities than those reported for the monomer molecules, while the fragment ions are released with higher kinetic energies. From the comparative analysis of the experimental data, is concluded that the increase of molecular chain and/or the presence of a lighter halogen (I, Br, Cl) in the molecular skeleton results in the increase of the laser intensity thresholds for the appearance of the singly and multiply charged fragment ions. As far as the angular distributions of the ejected ions are concerned, they are found to be dependent on the laser pulse duration. For the observed experimental data, a physical mechanism is proposed, based on the combined action of the laser and the electric field created within the clusters after their single ionization.