The propensity of molecules to spatially align in intense light fields

Abstract

The propensity of molecules to spatially align along the polarization vector of intense, pulsed light fields is related to readily-accessible parameters (molecular polarizabilities, moment of inertia, peak intensity of the light and its pulse duration). Predictions can now be made of which molecules can be spatially aligned, and under what circumstances, upon irradiation by intense light. Accounting for both enhanced ionization and hyperpolarizability, it is shown that {\it all} molecules can be aligned, even those with the smallest static polarizability, when subjected to the shortest available laser pulses (of sufficient intensity).

8 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to PRL

References in corpus (1)

• Dynamic and geometric alignment of CS_2 in intense laser fields of picosecond and femtosecond duration

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• Strong-field molecular alignment mediated by nonadiabatic charge localization