Optimal molecular alignment and orientation through rotational ladder climbing

Dion, Claude M.; Turinici, Gabriel; Salomon, Julien

Dion, Claude M.; Turinici, Gabriel; Salomon, Julien (2005), Optimal molecular alignment and orientation through rotational ladder climbing, The Journal of Chemical Physics, 123, 14, p. 144310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2049270

Type

Article accepté pour publication ou publié

Date

2005-07

Nom de la revue

The Journal of Chemical Physics

Volume

123

Numéro

Pages

144310

Résumé (EN)

We study the control by electromagnetic fields of molecular alignment and orientation in a linear, rigid-rotor model. With the help of a monotonically convergent algorithm, we find that the optimal field is in the microwave part of the spectrum and acts by resonantly exciting the rotation of the molecule progressively from the ground state, i.e., by rotational ladder climbing. This mechanism is present not only when maximizing orientation or alignment, but also when using prescribed target states that simultaneously optimize the efficiency of orientation/alignment and its duration. The extension of the optimization method to consider a finite rotational temperature is also presented. ©2005 American Institute of Physics

Mots-clés

rotational states; radiation pressure; electric field effects; molecular orientation