Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 6: Quantenkontrolle 2

MO 6.2: Talk

Monday, March 2, 2009, 16:45–17:00, VMP 6 HS-G

Alignment of coupled rotors with strong, non-resonant laser pulses — •Monika Leibscher, Johannes Floß, and Thomas Grohmann — Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Molecular rotation can be effectively controlled by intense laser pulses. The resulting alignment of rigid molecules has been studied intensively during the last years. Recently, it has been demonstrated that internal degrees of freedom of non-rigid molecules with low torsional barrier can also be controlled with intense laser pulses, leading to alignment of molecular torsion [1]. Here, we investigate in detail the dynamics of hindered torsion induced by short, intense laser pulses. We employ a two-dimensional model system, assuming that the molecules have already been aligned along one axis. The prospects of effective torsional alignment, depending on the molecular potential and the interaction strength are explored. We find that the maximal alignment depends in a non-monotonic way on the interaction strength. For molecules with identical nuclei at symmetric positions, the dynamics of molecular rotation and torsion depends strongly on the nuclear spin of the molecules [2,3]. Therefore, we also investigate the nuclear spin selective dynamics and its effect on molecular alignment for combined rotational and torsional motion.

References: [1] S. Ramakrishna, T. Seideman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 103001 (2007). [2] S. Fleischer, I. S. Averbukh, Y. Prior, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 093002 (2007). [3] O. Deeb, M. Leibscher, J. Manz, W. von Muellern, T. Seideman, ChemPhysChem 8, 322, (2007).