Abstract

The interaction of CS₂ with intense short pulse laser radiation is studied, experimentally using time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. Laser pulses of 0.5 and 5 psec at 248 and 496 nm have been used in order to investigate the effect of the wavelength and the pulse duration on the molecular ionization and fragmentation. As shown, for low enough intensities the parent molecular ion is present as the most important peak in all cases. Increasing the intensity results in extensive fragmentation, where the molecular parent ion remains always the more intense mass peak at 496 nm while at 248 nm S⁺ dominates the mass spectra. Finally, the production of multiply charged fragments is more efficient at the longer wavelength used.