Molecular Frisbee: Motion of Spinning Molecules in Inhomogeneous Fields

TL;DR

This paper explores how spinning molecules in inhomogeneous fields can be precisely controlled using laser-induced rotation, enabling applications like molecular focusing, guiding, trapping, and separation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to control molecular trajectories by adjusting the tilt of spinning molecules in inhomogeneous fields, demonstrated through optical deflection experiments.

Findings

Molecular trajectories can be precisely controlled by laser-induced spin tilt.

Optical deflection of linear molecules demonstrates the scheme's feasibility.

Potential applications include molecular focusing, guiding, trapping, and separation.

Abstract

Several laser techniques have been suggested and demonstrated recently for preparing polarizable molecules in rapidly spinning states with a disc-like angular distribution. We consider motion of these spinning discs in inhomogeneous fields, and show that the molecular trajectories may be precisely controlled by the tilt of the plane of the laser-induced rotation. The feasibility of the scheme is illustrated by optical deflection of linear molecules twirled by two delayed cross-polarized laser pulses. These results open new ways for many applications involving molecular focusing, guiding and trapping, and may be suitable for separating molecular mixtures by optical and static fields.