Nonlinear photochemistry in organic, inorganic, and organometallic systems

A molecule struck by an intense laser pulse can undergo two general types of nonlinear photochemistry: ionization followed by fragmentation (class A), or fragmentation followed by ionization (class B). This classification scheme is applied toward an understanding of the MPI spectra and photochemistries of various class A systems (acetaldehyde, dimethylmercury, norbornadiene, and tetramethylsilane) and class B systems (chromium hexacarbonyl, the mercuric halides, tetramethyltin, the titanium halides, and silicon tetrachloride). Additionally, we discuss the MPI of stannic chloride, which shows class A and class B behavior simultaneously, and of methyl iodide, which is class A in one spectral region and class B in another.