Dissociation dynamics of H+2 in intense laser fields: investigation of photofragments from single vibrational levels

We present a photodissociation experiment on H+2 with ultrashort laser pulses ( >/=130 fs) at peak intensities of </=1.5x10(14) W/cm(2). Since in an ion beam setup H+2 is produced in a discharge source spatially separated from the light interaction zone interference with neutral H2 can be excluded in the interpretation. As the beam setup allows a high energy resolution of photofragments, effects predicted by the light induced potential theory can be tested in detail. The one-photon trapping effect was detected and the angular distributions of fragments from single vibrational levels were measured. Fragment energy spectra deviate strongly from those obtained by experiments on H2.