Rotational Dynamics of Quantum State-Selected Symmetric-Top Molecules in Nonresonant Femtosecond Laser Fields

Quantum control of field-free molecular orientation

Generating field-free (non-stationary) orientation of molecules in space has been a longstanding goal in the field of quantum control of molecular rotation, which has significant applications in physical chemistry, chemical physics, strong-field physics, and quantum information science. In this Perspective, we review and examine several representative control schemes developed in recent years and implemented in theoretical and experimental areas for generating field-free orientation of molecules. By conducting numerical simulations of different control schemes on the same molecular system, we demonstrate that quantum coherent control, specifically targeting a limited number of the lowest-lying rotational levels to achieve an optimal superposition, can result in a high degree of orientation. To this end, we provide an overview of our latest developed analytical method, which enables the precise design of terahertz field parameters through resonant excitation. This design approach facilitates the attainment of desired field-free orientations by optimizing the amplitudes and phases of rotational wave functions for the selected rotational levels. Finally, we outlook the significance of such progress in multiple frontier research fields, highlighting its potential applications in ultracold physics, quantum computation, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology.

A quantum-chemical perspective on the laser-induced alignment and orientation dynamics of the CH3 X (X = F, Cl, Br, I) molecules

Motivated by recent experiments, the laser-induced alignment-and-orientation (A&O) dynamics of the prolate symmetric top CH3 X (X = F, Cl, Br, I) molecules is investigated, with particular emphasis on the effect of halogen substitution on the rotational constants, dipole moments, and polarizabilities of these species, as these quantities determine the A&O dynamics. Insight into possible control schemes for preferred A&O dynamics of halogenated molecules and best practices for A&O simulations are provided, as well. It is shown that for accurate A&O -dynamics simulations it is necessary to employ large basis sets and high levels of electron correlation when computing the rotational constants, dipole moments, and polarizabilities. The benchmark-quality values of these molecular parameters, corresponding to the equilibrium, as well as the vibrationally averaged structures are obtained with the help of the focal-point analysis (FPA) technique and explicit electronic-structure computations utilizing the gold-standard CCSD(T) approach, basis sets up to quintuple-zeta quality, core-correlation contributions and, in particular, relativistic effects for CH3 Br and CH3 I. It is shown that the different A&O behavior of the CH3 X molecules in the optical regime is mostly caused by the differences in their polarizability anisotropy, in other terms, the size of the halogen atom. In contrast, the A&O dynamics of the CH3 X series induced by an intense few-cycle THz pulse is mostly governed by changes in the rotational constants, due to the similar dipole moments of the CH3 X molecules. The A&O dynamics is most sensitive to the B rotational constant: even the difference between its equilibrium and vibrationally-averaged values results in noticeably different A&O dynamics. The contribution of rotational states having different symmetry, weighted by nuclear-spin statistics, to the A&O dynamics is also studied.

Tracing the Coherent Manipulation of Rotational Dynamics by Shaped Femtosecond Pulse-Induced Two-Dimensional Rotational Coherent Spectrum

The temporal delayed orthogonal pulse pairs generated by the phase shaping technique are used to study the coherent control of the rotational wave packet dynamics in air. By continuously changing the intrapulse delay of the pump pulse, we measured the corresponding revival signals and obtained a two-dimensional rotational coherent spectrum (2D RCS). An additive property of the rotational dynamics is observed from the revival signals. Moreover, combining with the coherent control model, we find that the 2D RCS can be used to demonstrate the control over the underlying Raman rotational excitation. A beat frequency-dependent oscillation of each rotational transition is obtained. The transition process is revealed from the Fourier transformation about the pump delay. The scheme of this work can be used for further control and detection of the rotational wave packet and can be extended to other molecular dynamic researches.

All-optical orientation of linear molecules with combined linearly and elliptically polarized two-color laser fields

We show that a combination of a fundamental pulse with linear polarization along the vertical direction and an elliptically polarized second harmonic pulse with both vertical and horizontal electric field components can be used to orient linear molecules efficiently, leading to higher degrees of orientation. Due to this specific combination of polarizations, the asymmetric hyperpolarizability interaction potential, which remains the same as that in a linearly polarized two-color laser field, is created along the vertical component of the elliptically polarized second harmonic pulse. On the other hand, the horizontal component suppresses the otherwise strong symmetric polarizability potential responsible for alignment, increasing the tunneling probability from the shallower potential well to the deeper one. As a result, the degree of orientation increases and can be controlled by changing the intensity of the horizontal component of the elliptically polarized second harmonic pulse. This study is the generalization of the all-optical molecular orientation technique based on the anisotropic hyperpolarizability interaction.

Identifying the Multielectron Effect on Chemical Bond Rearrangement of CH3Cl Molecules in Strong Laser Fields

Strong field double ionization that triggers the chemical bond rearrangement of CH₃Cl is investigated by impulsive control of the alignment of molecules. The alignment and laser intensity dependent H₂⁺ and H₃⁺ yields in linearly polarized femtosecond laser have been measured, and the obtained data show that the maximum signal of H₂⁺ appears at the laser polarization parallel to the C-Cl axis of molecules and H₃⁺ species are more likely to eject at the laser polarization parallel to the C-Cl axis at low laser intensity while the H₃⁺ signal peaks at laser polarization perpendicular to the C-Cl axis at high laser intensity. The measurements indicate that electrons from HOMO - 1 and HOMO - 2 orbitals have been ionized for the generation of bond rearrangement at different laser intensity. Our results demonstrate the importance of multielectron effects and also provide an effective control method in the process of chemical bond rearrangement of the molecules in strong laser fields.