Direct observation of molecular dynamics in intense laser fields probed by pulsed gas electron diffraction

A pulsed gas electron diffraction apparatus was developed and applied to observing alignment and structural deformation processes of molecule in nanosecond intense laser fields. The observed anisotropic two-dimensional diffraction pattern is reproduced by the simulation, in which the alignment of the molecular axis along the laser polarization direction was taken into account. In addition, structural deformation of CS/sub 2/ in nanosecond intense laser fields was probed in real time by picosecond electron pulses generated by ultrashort laser pulses.