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The role of dipole-forbidden autoionizing resonances in non-resonant one-color two-photon single ionization of N$_2$

We present an experimental and theoretical energy- and angle-resolved study on the photoionization dynamics of non-resonant one-color two-photon single valence ionization of neutral N$_2$ molecules. Using 9.3 eV photons produced via high harmonic generation and a 3-D momentum imaging spectrometer, we detect the photoelectrons and ions produced from one-color two-photon ionization in coincidence. Photoionization of N$_2$ populates the X $^2Σ^+_g$, A $^2Π_u$, and B $^2Σ^+_u$ ionic states of N$_2^+$, where the photoelectron angular distributions associated with the X $^2Σ^+_g$ and A $^2Π_u$ states both vary with changes in photoelectron kinetic energy of only a few hundred meV. We attribute the rapid evolution in the photoelectron angular distributions to the excitation and decay of dipole-forbidden autoionizing resonances that belong to series of different symmetries, all of which are members of the Hopfield series, and compete with the direct two-photon single ionization.