Numerical optimization of laser fields to control molecular orientation
A. Ben Haj-Yedder1, A. Auger1, C. M. Dion1, E. Cancès1, A. Keller2, C. Le Bris1, and O. Atabek2
1CERMICS, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées,
6 & 8 av. Blaise Pascal, Cité Descartes, Champs-sur-Marne, 77455
Marne-la-Vallée, France
2Laboratoire de Photophysique Moléculaire du CNRS,
Bâtiment 213, Campus d'Orsay, 91405 Orsay, France
A thorough numerical illustration of an optimal control scenario dealing with the laser-induced orientation of a diatomic molecule (LiF) is presented. Special emphasis is put on the definition of the various targets dealing with different orientation characteristics, identified in terms of maximum efficiency (i.e., molecular axis direction closest to the direction of the laser polarization vector), of maximum duration (i.e., the time interval during which this orientation is maintained), or of a compromise between efficiency and duration. Excellent post-pulse orientation is achieved by sudden, intense pulses. Thermal effects are also studied with an extension of the control scenarios to Boltzmann averaged orientation dynamics at T = 5 K.
This article has been published in The Physical Review A 66, 063401 (2002) and may be found at http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v66/e063401.
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