Ionization and fragmentation of C/sub 60/ fullerenes exposed to intense laser radiation with a pulse duration down to 8.5 fs

In this contribution, we report on time-of-flight mass spectroscopy of C/sub 60/ fullerenes that have been investigated with intense fs laser radiation. Fullerenes are extremely interesting model systems for studying the dynamics of ionization and energy coupling in complex systems with many degrees of freedom. Ultrashort pulses with a duration as short as 8.5 fs have been focused on the molecular beam, resulting in laser intensities up to 5/spl times/10/sup 14/ W/cm/sup 2/. Using different pulse durations the electron-electron and electron-phonon coupling times have been mapped out.