We perform ab initio calculations of high-harmonic spectroscopy (HHS) of two-center interference phenomena in oriented carbon dichalcogen molecules, using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). We show that, by resolving the harmonic response into contributions from individual Kohn-Sham orbitals, we can extract target-specific characteristics for both the spectral amplitude and phase. We also discuss that this extraction is predicated on a careful analysis and normalization of the harmonic spectrum. Finally, we present field-free scattering calculations that mimic the recollision step in high-order harmonic generation and allow the calculation of recombination dipole matrix elements without explicitly calculating the scattering states of a molecule. We show that the orbital-resolved TDDFT HHS results and results based on our field-free scattering calculations are in very good agreement with each other.

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We present molecular-frame high-harmonic spectroscopic measurements of the spectral intensity and group delay of carbon dioxide. Using four different driving wavelengths and a range of intensities at each wavelength for high-harmonic generation, we observe a well-characterized minimum in the harmonic emission that exhibits both a wavelength and intensity dependence. Using the intensity dependence at each driving wavelength, we classify the minimum as due to either a structural two-center interference or dynamic multichannel interference, consistent with previous literature. By additionally measuring the group delay at each driving wavelength and intensity, we find that the sign of the group delay excursion across the interference is an acute probe of the interference mechanism. The experimental results are confirmed by ab initio time-dependent density functional theory calculations of both the spectral intensity and the phase of the harmonic emission.