Controlling vibrational wave packets with intense, few-cycle laser pulses

Journal Article · Wed Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.73.021402· OSTI ID:20974501

Niikura, Hiromichi ^[1]; Villeneuve, D M; Corkum, P B ^[1]

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1. National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6 (Canada)

Using three precisely timed laser pulses, we show experimentally that subvibrational period, nonresonant laser radiation can control a vibrational wave packet. One pulse launches the wave packet and the second modifies the potential energy surfaces as the wave packet moves and the third probes its time evolution by Coulomb explosion imaging. First, we observe D{sub 2}{sup +} wave packets up to the first half revival without a control pulse. Next, we apply the control pulse to split the wave packet when the wave packet is near the outer turning point. We observe that one piece remains in the bound state and the other propagates to the dissociation continuum. By varying the delay between the pump and control pulses, we control the branching ratios. By a quantum mechanical calculation, we also show that if carrier-envelope phases of subvibrational period pulses are controlled, it can break left-right symmetry during dissociation, freezing the electron on one of the two dissociating fragments during dissociation.

• OSTI ID: 20974501
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 73; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
BOUND STATE
BRANCHING RATIO
CARRIERS
DEUTERIUM
DEUTERIUM IONS
DISSOCIATION
ELECTRONS
EXPLOSIONS
FREEZING
LASER RADIATION
PHOTOLYSIS
PHOTON-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
POTENTIAL ENERGY
PULSES
PUMPING
SURFACES
SYMMETRY
VIBRATIONAL STATES
WAVE PACKETS