Abstract

On the Earth, oxygen molecules are generated mostly via the photosynthesis by green plants and algae from carbon dioxide and water: $n{\text{CO}}_2+n{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\stackrel{light}{\to }{({\text{CH}}_2\text{O})}_n+n{\text{O}}_2$ [1]. Although, theoretical studies showed the possibility of O₂ production via CO₂ fragmentation [2] and experimental investigations achieved the detection of C⁺ (referring the creation of O₂ on the other side) [3], the direct observation of O₂ formation did not yet happen to our knowledge. In this submission, we report the direct experimental observation of molecular oxygen formation from carbon dioxide molecule after being doubly ionized by a strong laser pulse.

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