We explore the laser-induced ionization dynamics of N${}_2$ and CO${}_2$ molecules subjected to a few-cycle, linearly polarized, 800 nm laser pulse using effective two-dimensional single-active-electron time-dependent quantum simulations. We show that the electron recollision process taking place after an initial tunnel ionization stage results in quantum interference patterns in the energy-resolved photoelectron signals. If the molecule is initially aligned perpendicular to the field polarization, the position and relative heights of the associated fringes can be related to the molecular geometrical and orbital structure by using a simple inversion algorithm which takes into account the symmetry of the initial molecular orbital from which the ionized electron is produced. We show that it is possible to extract interatomic distances in the molecule from an averaged photon-electron signal with an accuracy of a few percent.

• Received 16 March 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.053417