Real-time observation of dynamics in rotational molecular wave packets by use of air-laser spectroscopy

  • Bin Zeng*
  • , Wei Chu
  • , Guihua Li
  • , Jinping Yao
  • , Haisu Zhang
  • , Jielei Ni
  • , Chenrui Jing
  • , Hongqiang Xie
  • , Ya Cheng
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Molecular rotational spectroscopy based on a strong-field-ionization- induced nitrogen laser is employed to investigate the time evolution of the rotational wave packet composed by a coherent superposition of quantum rotational states created in a field-free molecular alignment. We show that this technique uniquely allows real-time observation of the ultrafast dynamics of the molecular rotational wave packet. Our analysis also shows that there exist two channels of generation of the nitrogen laser, shedding light on the population inversion mechanism behind the air laser generated by intense femtosecond laser pulses.

Original languageEnglish
Article number042508
JournalPhysical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Volume89
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Apr 2014
Externally publishedYes

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