Related papers: Strongly aligned and oriented molecular samples at…
We introduce and experimentally demonstrate a method, where the two intrinsic time scales of a molecule, the slow nuclear motion and the fast electronic motion, are simultaneously measured in a photo-electron photo-ion coincidence…
Advances of quantum control technology have led to nearly perfect single-qubit control of nuclear spins and atomic hyperfine ground states. In contrast, quantum control of strong optical transitions, even for free atoms, are far from being…
We study strong field molecular ionization using few- (four to ten) cycle laser pulses. Employing a supercontinuum light source, we are able to tune the optical laser wavelength (photon energy) over a range of about $\sim$200 nm (500 meV).…
Accurate molecular imaging via high-order harmonic generation relies on comparing the harmonic emission from a molecule and an adequate reference system. However, an ideal reference atom with the same ionization properties as the molecule…
We produce oriented rotational wave packets in CO and measure their characteristics via high harmonic generation. The wavepacket is created using an intense, femtosecond laser pulse and its second harmonic. A delayed 800 nm pulse probes the…
Aluminium monofluoride (AlF) is a promising candidate for laser cooling and trapping at high densities. We show efficient production of AlF in a bright, pulsed cryogenic buffer gas beam, and demonstrate rapid optical cycling on the Q…
Laser-plasma acceleration is an emerging technique for accelerating electrons to high energies over very short distances. The accelerated electron bunches have femtosecond duration, making them particularly relevant for applications such as…
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,…
A moderately intense $450$ fs laser pulse is used to create rotational wave packets in gas phase $\rm{I_2}$ molecules. The ensuing time-dependent alignment, measured by Coulomb explosion imaging with a delayed probe pulse, exhibits the…
Laser-plasma accelerators can produce ultra short electron bunches in the femtosecond to picosecond duration range, resulting in high peak dose rates in comparison with clinical accelerators. This peculiar characteristic motivates their…
Photoassociation of ultracold atoms is shown to lead to alignment of the product molecules along the excitation laser polarization axis. We theoretically investigate pulsed photoassociation of $^{87}Rb$ atoms into a specific weakly-bound…
We demonstrate that the current laser technology used for field-free molecular alignment via a cascade of Raman rotational transitions allows for observing long-discussed non-linear quantum phenomena in the dynamics of the periodically…
We make use of an inhomogeneous electrostatic dipole field to impart a quantum-state-dependent deflection to a pulsed beam of OCS molecules, and show that those molecules residing in the absolute ground state, $X ^1\Sigma^+$, $\ket{00^00}$,…
We report on continuous high-harmonic generation at 1 kHz repetition rate from a liquid-sheet plasma mirror driven by relativistic-intensity near-single-cycle light transients. Through precise control of both the surface plasma density…
Quantum degenerate molecules represent a new paradigm for fundamental studies and practical applications. Association of already quantum degenerate atoms into molecules provides a crucial shortcut around the difficulty of cooling molecules…
We present some approaches to the computation of ultra-fast laser pulses capable of selectively breaking molecular bonds. The calculations are based on a mixed quantum-classical description: The electrons are treated quantum mechanically…
Using frequency-chirped radiation pressure slowing, we precisely control the velocity of a pulsed CaF molecular beam down to a few m/s, compressing its velocity spread by a factor of 10 while retaining high intensity: at a velocity of…
We evaluate the shifts imparted to vibrational and rotational levels of a linear molecule by a nonresonant laser field at intensities of up to 10^12 W/cm^2. Both types of shift are found to be either positive or negative, depending on the…
We propose a novel approach for strong alignment of gas-phase molecules for experiments at arbitrary repetition rates. A high-intracavity-power continuous-wave laser will provide the necessary ac electric field of $\!10^{10}$-…
High harmonic generation in benzene is studied using a mixed quantum-classical approach in which the electrons are described using time-dependent density functional theory while the ions move classically. The interaction with both…