Carrier envelope phase dependence of electron localization in the multicycle regime

Thus far, the role of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of a light pulse has generally been demonstrated in the few-cycle (sub-10 fs) regime. Here, by simulating the molecular dynamics of H+2 and D+2, we report that the electron localization of H+2 and D+2 exhibits unexpectedly strong CEP dependence in the multicycle regime. Our results also demonstrate that the electron localization asymmetry in the multicycle regime (15–20 fs) is higher than that in the single-cycle (4 fs) pulse. This counterintuitive phenomenon is discussed by monitoring the motions of both nuclear and electronic wavepackets. (paper)