Transition between mechanisms of laser-induced field-free molecular orientation

Abstract

The transition between two distinct mechanisms for the laser-induced field-free orientation of CO molecules is observed via measurements of orientation revival times and subsequent comparison to theoretical calculations. In the first mechanism, which we find responsible for the orientation of CO up to peak intensities of 8 x 10^13 W/cm^2, the molecules are impulsively oriented through the hyperpolarizability interaction. At higher intensities, asymmetric depletion through orientation-selective ionization is the dominant orienting mechanism. In addition to the clear identification of the two regimes of orientation, we propose that careful measurements of the onset of the orientation depletion mechanism as a function of the laser intensity will provide a relatively simple route to calibrate absolute rates of non-perturbative strong-field molecular ionization.

5 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Photoelectron angular distributions from strong-field ionization of oriented molecules
• Field-free orientation of CO molecules by femtosecond two-color laser fields
• Oriented rotational wave-packet dynamics studies via high harmonic generation
• Mechanisms of two-color laser-induced field-free molecular orientation

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Quantum control of molecular rotation
• Field-free Three-Dimensional Orientation of Asymmetric-Top Molecules
• Quantum Coherent Control of a Single Molecular-Polariton Rotation
• Two-state wave packet for strong field-free molecular orientation
• Optimal three-state field-free molecular orientation with terahertz pulses
• Controlling electron-electron correlation in frustrated double ionization of molecules with orthogonally polarized two-color laser fields
• Shaping of the time-evolution of field-free molecular orientation by THz laser pulses
• Disentangling the role of laser coupling in directional breaking of molecules
• Three Dimensional Orientation of Complex Molecules Excited by Two-Color Femtosecond Pulses
• Echo-enhanced molecular orientation at high temperatures
• Long-Lasting Orientation of Symmetric-top Molecules Excited by Two-Color Femtosecond Pulses
• Ionization-induced Long-lasting Orientation of Symmetric-top Molecules