Cavity-enhanced field-free molecular alignment at a high repetition rate.
Extreme ultraviolet frequency combs are a versatile tool with applications including precision measurement, strong-field physics, and solid-state physics. Here we report on an application of extreme ultraviolet frequency combs and their driving lasers for studying strong-field effects in molecular systems. We perform field-free molecular alignment and high-order harmonic generation with aligned molecules in a gas jet at a repetition rate of 154 MHz using a high-powered optical frequency comb inside a femtosecond enhancement cavity. The cavity-enhanced system provides a means to reach suitable intensities to study field-free molecular alignment and enhance the observable effects of the molecule-field interaction. We observe modulations of the driving field, arising from the nature of impulsive stimulated Raman scattering responsible for coherent molecular rotations. We foresee the impact of this work on the study of molecule-based strong-field physics, with improved precision and a more fundamental understanding of the interaction effects on both the field and molecules.
JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado, 440 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
Craig
C
Benko
JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado, 440 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.|State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
Linqiang
L
Hua
Departments of Chemistry and Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3400, USA.
Thomas K
TK
Allison
JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado, 440 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
François
F
Labaye
JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado, 440 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA.
Jun
J
Ye