title: Laser sculpting of atomic sp, sp(2) , and sp(3) hybrid orbitals.
abstract: Atomic sp, sp(2) , and sp(3) hybrid orbitals were introduced by Linus Pauling to explain the nature of the chemical bond. Quantum dynamics simulations show that they can be sculpted by means of a selective series of coherent laser pulses, starting from the 1s orbital of the hydrogen atom. Laser hybridization generates atoms with state-selective electric dipoles, opening up new possibilities for the study of chemical reaction dynamics and heterogeneous catalysis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006 (China).
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manz
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: bond theory; femtochemistry; hydrogen; laser control; photophysics