Formation of two singly-ionized Oxygen atoms during the breakup of O₂ driven by an XUV pulse

We compute accurate potential energy curves of O₂ up to O₂²⁺ for states that are energetically accessible in the photon energy range 20 to 42 eV. We find the dissociation limits of these states and the atomic fragments to which they dissociate. We use the Velocity Verlet algorithm to account for the nuclear dynamics of O₂ using these computed potential energy curves. Through the use of Monte Carlo simulations which monitor the nuclear motion and electronic structure of the molecule, we obtain kinetic energy release distributions of the O⁺ + O⁺ atomic fragments of O₂ exposed to an XUV pulse in the photon energy range. We compare these theoretical kinetic energy release distributions with results obtained from experiment.