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Photoelectron Holography of a Heteronuclear Molecule

Marko Haertelt1,*,†, WenZhuo Wu2,*, XuanYang Lai2,‡, Andrei Yu. Naumov1, XiaoJun Liu2, Paul B. Corkum1, and André Staudte1,§

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: marko.haertelt@iaf.fraunhofer.de
  • ‡Contact author: xylai@wipm.ac.cn
  • §Contact author: andre.staudte@nrc.ca
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 153202 – Published 15 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/z4xn-m554

Abstract

We present strong-field photoelectron holography measurements of hydrogen chloride (HCl) that resolve subcycle dynamics in two ionization channels associated with the HOMO and HOMO-1 orbitals. The holograms in the photoelectron momentum distributions show different cutoffs and interference fringes tied to orbital-specific ionization potentials. Furthermore, molecular-frame photoelectron holograms from oriented HCl exhibit pronounced asymmetries that arise from the interplay of the molecular dipole and the ionic Coulomb field. These findings establish strong-field photoelectron holography as a sensitive probe of subcycle electron wave packet dynamics in polar molecules.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 153202– Published 15 April, 2026
  • Received 13 March 2025
  • Revised 7 January 2026
  • Accepted 20 February 2026
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