Characterization of nuclear wave packets prepared by chirped femtosecond pulses using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We regard the excitation of a diatomic molecule with a chirped ultrashort laser pulse. In this way, nuclear wave packets are prepared which, depending on the chirp parameter, exhibit different vibrational dynamics. Using the potassium dimer as a numerical example, we show that time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is able to map the characteristics of the nuclear probability density and, in particular, to distinguish densities obtained from excitations using differently chirped pulses.