title: Control of molecular rotation with a chiral train of ultrashort pulses.
abstract: Trains of ultrashort laser pulses separated by the time of rotational revival (typically, tens of picoseconds) have been exploited for creating ensembles of aligned molecules. In this work we introduce a chiral pulse train--a sequence of linearly polarized pulses with the polarization direction rotating from pulse to pulse by a controllable angle. The chirality of such a train, expressed through the period and direction of its polarization rotation, is used as a new control parameter for achieving selectivity and directionality of laser-induced rotational excitation. The method employs chiral trains with a large number of pulses separated on the time scale much shorter than the rotational revival (a few hundred femtosecond), enabling the use of conventional pulse shapers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy and The Laboratory for Advanced Spectroscopy and Imaging Research (LASIR), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhdanovich
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Milner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bloomquist
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Floss
authors.forename: I Sh
authors.initials: ISh
authors.lastname: Averbukh
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hepburn
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Milner