Related papers: Field-free molecular alignment by the optimized tw…
The use of bichromatic counter-rotating laser field is known to generate high-order harmonics with non-zero ellipticity. By combining such laser field with a plasmonic-enhanced spatially inhomogeneous field, we propose a way to influence…
We show that a laser pulse designed as an adiabatic ramp followed by a kick allows one to reach a perfect postpulse molecular alignment, free of saturation. The mechanism is based on an optimized distribution of the energy between a weakly…
Present photoionization experiments cannot measure molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions (MFPAD) from the outermost valence electrons of molecules. We show that details of the MFPAD can be retrieved with high-order harmonics…
We demonstrate to image asymmetric molecular orbitals via high-order harmonic generation in a one-color inhomogeneous field. Due to the broken inversion symmetry of the inhomogeneous field in space, the returning electrons with energy in a…
We show that circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses produce field-free alignment in linear and planar molecules. We study the rotational wavepacket evolution of O$_2$ and benzene created by circularly polarized light. For benzene, we…
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…
The optimal control of two-level systems by time-dependent laser fields is studied using a variational theory. We obtain, for the first time, general analytical expressions for the optimal pulse shapes leading to global maximization or…
We examine the impact of the combination of a static electric field and a non resonant linearly polarized laser field on an asymmetric top molecule. Within the rigid rotor approximation, we analyze the symmetries of the Hamiltonian for all…
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…
We present a theoretical study of the impact of an electrostatic field combined with non-resonant linearly polarized laser pulses on the rotational dynamics of linear molecules. Within the rigid rotor approximation, we solve the…
Genetic algorithms, as implemented in optimal control strategies, are currently successfully exploited in a wide range of problems in molecular physics. In this context, laser control of molecular alignment and orientation remains a very…
We have experimentally and theoretically investigated the mixed-field orientation of rotational-state-selected OCS molecules and we achieve strong degrees of alignment and orientation. The applied moderately intense nanosecond laser pulses…
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…
The generation of harmonics by atoms or ions in a two-color, coplanar field configuration with commensurate frequencies is investigated through both, an analytical calculation based on the Lewenstein model and the numerical ab initio…
Electromagnetic fields with complex spatial variation routinely arise in Nature. We study the response of a small molecule to monochromatic fields of arbitrary three-dimensional geometry. First, we consider the allowed configurations of the…
Dynamic stabilization of atomic hydrogen against ionization in high-frequency single- and two-color, circularly polarized laser pulses is observed by numerically solving the three-dimensional, time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The…
We present a theoretical study of the impact of an electrostatic field combined with nonresonant linearly polarized laser pulses on the rotational dynamics of a thermal ensemble of linear molecules. We solve the time-dependent Schr\"odinger…
We report experiments on field-free molecular alignment performed at FLASH, the free electron laser (FEL) in Hamburg. The impulsive alignment induced by a 100 fs near-infrared laser pulse in a rotationally cold CO_2 sample is characterized…
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,…
We apply two different monotonically convergent optimization algorithms to the control of molecular rotational dynamics by laser pulses. This example represents a quantum control problem where the interaction of the system with the external…