title: Control of 1,3-cyclohexadiene photoisomerization using light-induced conical intersections.
abstract: We have studied the photoinduced isomerization from 1,3-cyclohexadiene to 1,3,5-hexatriene in the presence of an intense ultrafast laser pulse. We find that the laser field maximally suppresses isomerization if it is both polarized parallel to the excitation dipole and present 50 fs after the initial photoabsorption, at the time when the system is expected to be in the vicinity of a conical intersection that mediates this structural transition. A modified ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) method shows that the laser induces a resonant coupling between the excited state and the ground state, i.e., a light-induced conical intersection. The theory accounts for the timing and direction of the effect.
authors.affiliation: PULSE Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94304, USA. jk2236@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Jaehee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Vladimir S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Petrović
authors.forename: Todd J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Philip H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Bucksbaum