Laser-Induced Alignment and Orientation of Quantum-State-Selected Large Molecules

2008/10/13 by Lotte Holmegaard, Jens Hedegaard Nielsen, Jens H. Nielsen +5 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications #physics.atm-clus #physics.atom-ph #physics.chem-ph #physics.ins-det

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.102.023001

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 023001 (2009)

arxiv created 2008/10/13 · openalex publication_date 2009/01/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

A strong inhomogeneous static electric field is used to spatially disperse a supersonic beam of polar molecules, according to their quantum state. We show that the molecules residing in the lowest-lying rotational states can be selected and used as targets for further experiments. As an illustration, we demonstrate an unprecedented degree of laser-induced one-dimensional alignment (cos;(2)theta_(2D)=0.97) and strong orientation of state-selected iodobenzene molecules. This method should enable experiments on pure samples of polar molecules in their rotational ground state, offering new opportunities in molecular science.

Citations

• Alternating-gradient focusing and deceleration of large molecules

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