Molecular alignment using circularly polarized laser pulses

Abstract

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 align the molecular plane to the plane of polarization. For O${}_2$, we demonstrate that circular polarization yields a net alignment along the laser propagation axis at certain phases of the evolution. Circular polarization gives us the ability to control alignment of linear molecules outside the plane of polarization, providing new capabilities for molecular imaging.

6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Quantum-state selection, alignment, and orientation of large molecules using static electric and laser fields
• State- and conformer-selected beams of aligned and oriented molecules for ultrafast diffraction studies
• Ionization of 1D and 3D oriented asymmetric top molecules by intense circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Exit momentum and instantaneous ionization rate of nonadiabatic tunneling ionization in elliptically polarized laser fields
• Effect of nuclear motion on high-order harmonic generation of H${}_2^{+}$ in intense ultrashort laser pulses
• Alignment dependent enhancement of the photo-electron cutoff for multi-photon ionization of molecules
• Understanding molecular harmonic emission at relatively long intense laser pulses: Beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation
• Alignment of the CS${}_2$ Dimer Embedded in Helium Droplets Induced by a Circularly Polarized Laser Pulse
• Control of ${\text{N}}_2^{+}$ Air Lasing
• Controlling rotation in the molecular-frame with an optical centrifuge