Fully angle-resolved strong-field ionization and dissociation of ethylene from rotational wavepacket dynamics

We obtain the full orientation dependence of strong field ionization and dissociation of ethylene, an asymmetric top molecule, by a linearly polarized laser pulse. The molecules are set into complex rotational motion by the non-resonant laser pulse and subsequently ionized or fragmented by a more intense probe pulse. By decomposing the delay dependent yields of ionization dissociation products in a suitable basis set, we obtain the orientation dependences of both processes and show that HOMO and HOMO-1 orbitals contribute to the ionization signal and that ionization from HOMO-1 and HOMO-2 lead to emission of a hydrogen atom. The time-dependent angular distribution and the initial rotational temperature of the molecules are also obtained from the same analysis.