Ionization and fragmentation of diatomic molecules by strong laser pulses of ultrashort duration

The behavior of a model two-electron diatomic molecule in a strong laser field is studied by the method of direct numerical integration of the nonstationary Schrodinger equation. A detailed analysis of single-and double-electron ionization is performed. The momentum distribution of photoelectrons and energy spectra of molecular fragments are calculated for different parameters of laser pulses. The data thus obtained are compared with recent theoretical and experimental results.