title: Femtosecond quantum control of molecular bond formation.
abstract: Ultrafast lasers are versatile tools used in many scientific areas, from welding to eye surgery. They are also used to coherently manipulate light-matter interactions such as chemical reactions, but so far control experiments have concentrated on cleavage or rearrangement of existing molecular bonds. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of several molecular species starting from small reactant molecules in laser-induced catalytic surface reactions, and even the increase of the relative reaction efficiency by feedback-optimized laser pulses. We show that the control mechanism is nontrivial and sensitive to the relative proportion of the reactants. The control experiments open up a pathway towards photocatalysis and are relevant for research in physics, chemistry, and biology where light-induced bond formation is important.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nuernberger
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolpert
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Gustav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gerber
mesh_terms: D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D007834:Lasers; D010165:Palladium / Q000737:chemistry; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010165:Palladium; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D006859:Hydrogen