Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Uncovering Hidden Dynamics of Natural Photonic Structures Using Holographic Imaging
Published on: March 31, 2022
Wave-packet interferometry and molecular state reconstruction: spectroscopic adventures on the left-hand side of the
1Department of Chemistry and Oregon Center for Optics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA. cina@uoregon.edu
Abstract:
This article summarizes theoretical studies of molecular state determination by wave-packet interferometry (WPI) and recounts some recent experimental applications of molecular WPI. Calculations predict that two-color nonlinear WPI data can be used to reconstruct a rovibronic target wave packet evolving under an incompletely characterized nuclear Hamiltonian. This can be accomplished by the isolation via phase cycling or wave-vector matching of an exhaustive collection of overlaps between the unknown target and the members of a family of reference wave packets whose form is known by construction. This review highlights recent experiments employing WPI to gain amplitude-level information about the photoexcited-state dynamics of small molecules in the gas phase and in rare-gas crystals. I briefly describe a new semiclassical theory for condensed-phase WPI and other coherence-spectroscopy measurements, such as time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, and mention our initial studies of nonlinear WPI from electronic energy-transfer complexes.
Related Concept Videos
The de Broglie Wavelength
Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions
Molecular Orbital Theory I
IR Spectroscopy: Molecular Vibration Overview
Stretching vibrations are vibrational motions that occur along the bond line, changing the bond length or distance between two bonded atoms. They are further distinguished as symmetric or asymmetric. In symmetric stretching, the...
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom

