• Interaction laser-matière › Physico-Chimie et Chimie-Physique
We have investigated the fission following a Coulomb explosion in argon clusters (up to Ar800) irradiated by a femtosecond infrared laser with moderate intensity IL ≈13 Wcm-2. We report the a priori surprising observation of well-defined velocity distributions of the ionized fragments Arn<50. This is interpreted by the formation of a valence shell excited charged ion, followed by relaxation, charge transfer by autoionizing collision at very short distance, and asymmetric fission.