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Abstract

We present a full quantal study on the dissociation of a weakly bound molecular ion in the presence of an external time-dependent electric field. We focus on the dissociation dynamics of a molecular ion in a Paul trap relevant for atom-ion hybrid traps. Our results show that a weakly bound molecular ion survives in a Paul trap giving a theoretical ground to previous experimental findings [A. Krükow et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 193201 (2016) and A. Mohammadi et al. Phys. Rev. Research 3, 013196 (2021)]. In particular, we find that weakly bound molecular ions are more likely to survive in traps with large RF frequency. Similarly, we show that applying an electric field ramp is an efficient method to state-selectively detect weakly bound molecular ions, analogous to the well-known selective field ionization technique applied in Rydberg atoms, that it may also be used to detect these species in atom-ion hybrid traps.