Visualizing molecular unidirectional rotation

We directly visualize the spatiotemporal evolution of a unidirectional rotating molecular rotational wave packet. Excited by two time-delayed polarization-skewed ultrashort laser pulses, the cigar- or disk-shaped rotational wave packet is impulsively kicked to unidirectionally rotate as a quantum rotor which afterwards disperses and exhibits field-free revivals. The rich dynamics can be coherently controlled by varying the timing or polarization of the excitation laser pulses. The numerical simulations very well reproduce the experimental observations and intuitively revivify the thoroughgoing evolution of the molecular rotational wave packet of unidirectional spin.