Dissociative ionization of methanol in moderate intense laser fields

Dissociative ionization of methanol induced by ultrashort laser pulses has been studied at wavelengths of 400 nm and 800 nm with moderate intensity (1012−13 W/cm2). The laser power dependence of ionic species shows that multi photon ionization causes an excitation with a total energy from 11 to 15 eV. Comparing the current results with those of conventional VUV photodissociation experiments, we conclude that the molecules are excited to the X, A, B and C states of the ion, resulting in the CH4O+, CH3O+, CH 3 + and CHO+ ions, respectively.