VIBRATIONAL TRAPPING AND SUPPRESSION OF DISSOCIATION IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS

We calculate the dissociation of H-2+ in intense short pulsed laser fields for a variety of wavelengths and a wide range of initial vibrational states (upsilon=0-14). While the low-upsilon levels achieve 100% dissociation in the leading edge of the pulse, for high-upsilon there is an onset of stabilization, and significant [(5-50)%] population remains in bound vibrational states throughout the entire pulse. The dissociation is incomplete, and a coherent distribution of excited vibrational states is formed. This survival effect can be attributed to the trapping of portions of the initial vibrational wave packet in transient laser-induced potential wells.