Interferences in Photodetachment of a Negative Molecular Ion Model

By employing a two-center model, the total and differential cross sections in the photodetachment of ``a negative molecular ion" are studied theoretically and obtained for the case of light polarization parallel to the molecular axis. We find that in contrast to the smooth behavior of the total cross section for perpendicular polarized light, the cross section for parallel polarized light shows an interesting oscillatory structure. The oscillations in the total cross section may provide a method to determine the distance between the two centers. We explain the oscillation in the total cross section as an interference effect using closed-orbit theory. We also calculated the detached-electron flux distributions on a screen placed at a large distance from the negative molecular ion. The distributions display multiple-ring-like interference patterns. Such interference patterns are similar to those in the photodetachment microscopy experiments.