title: Manipulating the torsion of molecules by strong laser pulses.
abstract: We demonstrate that strong laser pulses can induce torsional motion in a molecule consisting of a pair of phenyl rings. A nanosecond laser pulse spatially aligns the carbon-carbon bond axis, connecting the two phenyl rings, allowing a perpendicularly polarized, intense femtosecond pulse to initiate torsional motion accompanied by an overall rotation about the fixed axis. We monitor the induced motion by femtosecond time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging. Our theoretical analysis accounts for and generalizes the experimental findings.
authors.affiliation: Lundbeck Foundation Theoretical Center for Quantum System Research, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Viftrup
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holmegaard
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumarappan
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stapelfeldt