Control of molecular vibrational excitation and dissociation by chirped intense infrared laser pulses. Rotational effects

Abstract

We extend our previous studies on control of dissociation and vibrational excitation of a diatomic molecule using chirped, intense, infrared laser pulses [Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 2355 (1990)]. The present model includes molecular rotations and a realistic molecular dipole function. The results obtained from numerical integration of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation show a considerable sensitivity of dissociation probabilities to the initial rotational quantum number. Although rotational effects generally decrease the excitation efficiency compared to previous nonrotating molecule results, the dissociation probability induced by chirped pulses is still four to eight orders of magnitudes greater than that for monochromatic pulse dissociation.