Electron Emission from H-2(+) in Strong Laser Fields

We present an experimental investigation into the angular and energy distributions of electrons set free by the interaction of hydrogen molecular ions with strong laser fields. The results extend on those presented previously [M. Odenweller et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 143004 (2011)] for circularly polarized light. Pulses of laser light (lambda = 780 nm, I approximate to 6 x 10(14) W cm(-2), tau approximate to 40 fs) of both linear and circular polarization are focused onto an H-2(+) molecular ion beam. The momenta of the proton and electron fragments are determined in a coincidence experiment, enabling electron momentum emission patterns in the molecular frame to be deduced for specific values of internuclear distances.