Laser-assisted molecular orientation in gaseous media: New possibilities and applications

Abstract

It was shown recently by us that an isotropic distribution of molecules in gaseous media can be drastically effected via their orientationdependent selective excitation by a strong femtosecond multicomponent laser pulse. In the present paper, we analyze the specific effects accompanying the dynamical orientation of molecules driven this way. It is demonstrated that the peculiarities of the post-pulse transient angular distribution of molecules allow original proposals for the generation of pulsed terahertz radiation and also for the determination of the molecular rotational constants. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.