25 research outputs found
Molecular Frisbee: Motion of Spinning Molecules in Inhomogeneous Fields
Several laser techniques have been suggested and demonstrated recently for
preparing polarizable molecules in rapidly spinning states with a disc-like
angular distribution. We consider motion of these spinning discs in
inhomogeneous fields, and show that the molecular trajectories may be precisely
controlled by the tilt of the plane of the laser-induced rotation. The
feasibility of the scheme is illustrated by optical deflection of linear
molecules twirled by two delayed cross-polarized laser pulses. These results
open new ways for many applications involving molecular focusing, guiding and
trapping, and may be suitable for separating molecular mixtures by optical and
static fields
Quantum resonance, Anderson localisation and selective manipulations in molecular mixtures by ultrashort laser pulses
We demonstrate that the current laser technology used for field-free
molecular alignment via a cascade of Raman rotational transitions allows for
observing long-discussed non-linear quantum phenomena in the dynamics of the
periodically kicked rotor. This includes the scaling of the absorbed energy
near the conditions of quantum resonance and Anderson-like localisation in the
angular momentum. Based on these findings, we suggest a novel approach to
tunable selective rotational excitation and alignment in a molecular mixture,
using trains of short laser pulses. We demonstrate the efficiency of this
approach by applying it to a mixture of two nitrogen isotopologues (14N2 and
15N2), and show that strong selectivity is possible even at room temperature