Ejection of triatomic hydrogen molecular ion from methanol in intense laser fields

The ejection of a triatomic or diatomic hydrogen molecular ion from methanol (CH3OH and CD3OH) in intense laser fields (86 fs, 800 nm, ≈1014 W/cm2) is investigated based on the momentum vector distributions of the fragment ions measured by the mass-resolved momentum imaging technique. From the relative yield of D 3 + , HD 2 + , D 2 + and HD+ ejected from CD3OH2+ and the anisotropic distributions of their momentum vectors, the rates of the formation of triatomic ( D 3 + and HD 2 + ) and diatomic ( D 2 + and HD+) fragment ions, kt = 0.15 ps−1 and kd = 0.31 ps−1, respectively, and the H/D exchange rate, kex = 0.13 ps−1, are derived.