title: Nuclear spin selective laser control of rotational and torsional dynamics.
abstract: We explore the possibility of controlling rotational-torsional dynamics of non-rigid molecules with strong, non-resonant laser pulses and demonstrate that transient, laser-induced torsional alignment depends on the nuclear spin of the molecule. Consequently, nuclear spin isomers can be manipulated selectively by a sequence of time-delayed laser pulses. We show that two pulses with different polarization directions can induce either overall rotation or internal torsion, depending on the nuclear spin. Nuclear spin selective control of the angular momentum distribution may open new ways to separate and explore nuclear spin isomers of polyatomic molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Floss
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grohmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leibscher
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seideman