Pendular motion of linear in intense laser fields

We present high-resolution measurements of the angular distributions of , and fragments from in intense, polarized, picosecond laser fields. Distinctly anisotropic angular distributions are measured in all cases. Some evidence is obtained of lobe-like structure in these distributions; these are indicative of pendular motion of molecules aligned along the polarization axis of the laser field. Results of classical calculations of the dissociation dynamics on an excited state potential energy surface are presented which qualitatively reproduce the global features of the measured angular distributions.