Electric-field dissociation of weakly bound molecular ions

We present a study on the dissociation of a weakly bound molecular ion in the presence of an external time-dependent electric field based on a full quantum treatment of the dynamics. We focus on the dissociation dynamics of a molecular ion in a Paul trap relevant for atom-ion hybrid traps. Our results show that a weakly bound molecular ion survives in a Paul trap giving a theoretical ground to previous experimental findings [A. Krukow et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 193201 (2016) and A. Mohammadi et al., Phys. Rev. Research 3, 013196 (2021)]. In particular, we find that weakly bound molecular ions are more likely to survive in traps with a large rf frequency. Similarly, we show that applying an electric field ramp is an efficient method to state-selectively detect weakly bound molecular ions, analogous to the well-known selective field ionization technique applied in Rydberg atoms.