Open AccessSingle-shot, space- and time-resolved measurement of rotational wavepacket revivals in H_2, D_2, N_2, O_2, and N_2O
Author(s) -
YuHsin Chen,
S. Varma,
Andrew G. York,
H. M. Milchberg
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.15.011341
Subject(s) - dephasing , supercontinuum , femtosecond , optics , interferometry , deuterium , physics , single shot , laser , wave packet , materials science , atomic physics , optical fiber , quantum mechanics , photonic crystal fiber
Femtosecond laser-induced alignment and periodic recurrences in hydrogen and deuterium are measured in a single shot for the first time, in a room temperature gas cell. Single-shot Supercontinuum Spectral Interferometry (SSSI) is employed, with measurements also performed in room temperature samples of nitrogen, oxygen, and nitrous oxide. Unlike previous optical techniques for probing molecular alignment in gases or liquids, SSSI quantitatively and directly measures the degree of molecular alignment without reliance on model fits, and it can do so with spatial resolution transverse to the pump beam. In addition, wavepacket collisional dephasing rates can be directly measured in gas samples at useful densities.