Related papers: State- and conformer-selected beams of aligned and…
We propose an approach to probe coherent spin-state dynamics of molecules using circularly polarized hard x-ray pulses. For the dynamically aligned nitric oxide molecules in a coherent superposition spin-orbit coupled electronic state that…
We study how to efficiently manipulate and store quantum information between optical fields and atomic ensembles. We show how various non-dissipative transfer schemes can be used to transfer and store quantum states such as squeezed vacuum…
A strong inhomogeneous static electric field is used to spatially disperse a rotationally cold supersonic beam of 2,6-difluoroiodobenzene molecules according to their rotational quantum state. The molecules in the lowest lying rotational…
Ultracold molecules trapped in optical tweezers show great promise for the implementation of quantum technologies and precision measurements. We study a prototypical scenario where two interacting polar molecules placed in separate traps…
We introduce a new optical tool - a "two-dimensional optical centrifuge", capable of aligning molecules in extreme rotational states. Unlike the conventional centrifuge, which confines the molecules in the plane of their rotation, its…
A method of slowing, accelerating, cooling, and bunching molecules and neutral atoms using time-varying electric field gradients is demonstrated with cesium atoms in a fountain. The effects are measured and found to be in agreement with…
Detecting the internal state of polar molecules is a substantial challenge when standard techniques such as resonance-enhanced multi photon ionization (REMPI) or laser-induced fluorescense (LIF) do not work. As this is the case for most…
A strongly confined light field necessarily exhibits a local polarization that varies on a subwavelength scale. We demonstrate that a single optical mode of such kind can be used to selectively and simultaneously manipulate atomic ensembles…
Several laser techniques have been suggested and demonstrated recently for preparing polarizable molecules in rapidly spinning states with a disc-like angular distribution. We consider motion of these spinning discs in inhomogeneous fields,…
Precise measurement of the particle number, spatial distribution and internal state is fundamental to all proposed experiments with ultracold molecules both in bulk gases and optical lattices. Here, we demonstrate in-situ detection of…
Ultracold molecules confined in optical lattices or tweezer traps can be used to process quantum information and simulate the behaviour of many-body quantum systems. Molecules offer several advantages for these applications. They have a…
Controlled interaction of laser light with electron beams is fundamental for ultrafast electron microscopy and electron-based quantum optics, yet their direct coupling is forbidden in free space. Here we use longitudinally polarized light…
We consider the problem of discriminating macromolecular structures in an electron microscope, through a specific beam shaping technique. Our approach is based on maximizing the which-molecule information extracted from the state of each…
A beam of diatomic molecules scattered off a standing wave laser mode splits according to the rovibrational quantum state of the molecules. Our numerical calculation shows that single state resolution can be achieved by properly tuned,…
We demonstrate that a bichromatic standing-wave laser field can exert a significantly larger force on a molecule than ordinary radiation pressure. Our experiment measures the deflection of a pulsed supersonic beam of CaF molecules by a…
Electrostatic hexapoles are revealed as a powerful tool in the rotational state-selection and alignment of molecules to be utilized in beam experiments on collisional and photoinitiated processes. In the paper, we report results on the…
Laser control of molecular rotation is an area of active research. A number of recent studies has aimed at expanding the reach of rotational control to extreme, previously inaccessible rotational states, as well as controlling the…
We demonstrate that structures made of light can be used to coherently control the motion of complex molecules. In particular, we show diffraction of the fullerenes C60 and C70 at a thin grating based on a standing light wave. We prove…
We consider deflection of polarizable molecules by inhomogeneous optical fields, and analyze the role of molecular orientation and rotation in the scattering process. It is shown that molecular rotation induces spectacular rainbow-like…
Strong-field quantum-state control is investigated, taking advantage of the full---amplitude and phase---characterization of the interaction between matter and intense ultrashort pulses via transient-absorption spectroscopy. A sequence of…