Molecular alignment effect on the photoassociation process via a pump-dump scheme.
The photoassociation processes via the pump-dump scheme for the heternuclear (Na + H → NaH) and the homonuclear (Na + Na → Na2) molecular systems are studied, respectively, using the time-dependent quantum wavepacket method. For both systems, the initial atom pair in the continuum of the ground electronic state (X(1)Σ(+)) is associated into the molecule in the bound states of the excited state (A(1)Σ(+)) by the pump pulse. Then driven by a time-delayed dumping pulse, the prepared excited-state molecule can be transferred to the bound states of the ground electronic state. It is found that the pump process can induce a superposition of the rovibrational levels |v, j〉 on the excited state, which can lead to the field-free alignment of the excited-state molecule. The molecular alignment can affect the dumping process by varying the effective coupling intensity between the two electronic states or by varying the population transfer pathways. As a result, the final population transferred to the bound states of the ground electronic state varies periodically with the delay time of the dumping pulse.
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Bin-Bin
BB
Wang
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Yong-Chang
YC
Han
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Shu-Lin
SL
Cong