Deflection of field-free aligned molecules

TL;DR

This paper investigates how molecular rotation affects the deflection of polarizable molecules by optical fields, revealing rainbow-like scattering features and demonstrating control over deflection through laser pulse shaping for applications in molecular manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control molecular deflection by pre-shaping angular distributions with femtosecond laser pulses, enhancing precision in molecular guiding and trapping.

Findings

Molecular rotation causes rainbow-like scattering features.

Pre-shaping angular distribution controls deflection angles.

Laser pulse shaping reduces angular dispersion of deflected molecules.

Abstract

We consider deflection of polarizable molecules by inhomogeneous optical fields, and analyze the role of molecular orientation and rotation in the scattering process. It is shown that molecular rotation induces spectacular rainbow-like features in the distribution of the scattering angle. Moreover, by pre-shaping molecular angular distribution with the help of short and strong femtosecond laser pulses, one may efficiently control the scattering process, manipulate the average deflection angle and its distribution, and reduce substantially the angular dispersion of the deflected molecules. This opens new ways for many applications involving molecular focusing, guiding and trapping by optical and static fields.