title: Control of Li2 wave packet dynamics by modification of the quantum mechanical amplitude of a single state.
abstract: Sequences of pulses with different spectra are used to control rotational wave packet dynamics in Li(2) by exploiting quantum interference phenomena. Wave packet superpositions are excited in a two-step resonant Raman process by two different pulses. Interferences between individual states shared by both wave packets can be used to enhance or destroy specific components of a superposition by varying the time delay between the pulses and/or the relative phase within the pulses. Elimination of selected quantum beats is achieved by greater than 94% for each case. A simple, yet effective, method for generating different color phase-locked pairs of laser pulses in a liquid-crystal pulse shaper setup without the need for interferometric stabilization schemes is described. The ability to manipulate single states of a superposition is an important advancement for intuitive control schemes and provides a potential new approach for initialization schemes in the field of quantum information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Eliza-Beth W
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lerch
authors.forename: Xingcan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gilb
authors.forename: Elva A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Leone