title: Initiation and control of catalytic surface reactions with shaped femtosecond laser pulses.
abstract: We report on femtosecond laser-induced catalytic reactions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen on single crystal surfaces under high vacuum conditions. Several product molecules are synthesized, among them also species for whose formation at least three reactants are required. By applying closed-loop optimal control, we manipulate these reactions and selectively optimize the ratio of different bond-forming reaction channels, in contrast to previous quantum control experiments aiming at bond-cleavage. Further experiments explore the nontrivial control mechanism and its sensitivity to the relative proportion of the two reactant gases.
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