We experimentally measure the ionization probability as a function of alignment angle of three molecules in intense laser fields: nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Unlike atoms, molecules have a rotational degree of freedom. By controlling the alignment of the molecule relative to the laser field, molecules offer additional ways to understand strong-field ionization. The angular dependence of ionization directly maps to the orbital symmetry of each molecule. Carbon dioxide is seen to have a very sharp preference for ionization when aligned at 45 degrees to the laser field, in significant disagreement with current theories.

Direct Measurement of the Angular Dependence of Ionization for<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>, and<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msub><mml:mi>CO</mml:mi><...

Direct Measurement of the Angular Dependence of Ionization forN2,O2, andCO<...