Strong-field phase-dependent molecular dissociation

We show how wave functions with the same energy and probability distribution but different momenta have very different dissociation probabilities when two molecular potentials are strongly coupled by an intense laser field. Our measurements of dynamics in a molecular family, in conjunction with molecular structure and wave-packet calculations, highlight the role of the wave-packet momentum, or spatially varying phase, in the dynamics leading to dissociation. Phase-dependent dynamics are central to coherent control of laser driven chemistry.