Control of nitromethane photoionization efficiency with shaped femtosecond pulses. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The applicability of adaptive femtosecond pulse shaping is studied for achieving selectivity in the photoionization of low-density polyatomic targets. In particular, optimal dynamic discrimination (ODD) techniques exploit intermediate molecular electronic resonances that allow a significant increase in the photoionization efficiency of nitromethane with shaped near-infrared femtosecond pulses. The intensity bias typical of high-photon number, nonresonant ionization is accounted for by reference to a strictly intensity-dependent process. Closed-loop adaptive learning is then able to discover a pulse form that increases the ionization efficiency of nitromethane by 150%. The optimally induced molecular dynamics result from entry into a region of parameter space inaccessible with intensity-only control. Finally, the discovered pulse shape is demonstrated to interact with the molecular system in a coherent fashion as assessed from the asymmetry between the response to the optimal field and its time-reversed counterpart.

published proceedings

  • J Chem Phys

altmetric score

  • 0.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Roslund, J., Shir, O. M., Dogariu, A., Miles, R., & Rabitz, H.

citation count

  • 6

complete list of authors

  • Roslund, Jonathan||Shir, Ofer M||Dogariu, Arthur||Miles, Richard||Rabitz, Herschel

publication date

  • April 2011