title: Observation of enhanced field-free molecular alignment by two laser pulses.
abstract: We show experimentally that field-free alignment of iodobenzene molecules, induced by a single, intense, linearly polarized 1.4-ps-long laser pulse, can be strongly enhanced by dividing the pulse into two optimally synchronized pulses of the same duration. For a given total energy of the two-pulse sequence the degree of alignment is maximized with an intensity ratio of 1:3 and by sending the second pulse near the time where the alignment created by the first pulse peaks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, 8000 Arhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christer Z
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Bisgaard
authors.forename: Mikael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Péronne
authors.forename: Simon S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Viftrup
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stapelfeldt