Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Measurement and Analysis of Atomic Hydrogen and Diatomic Molecular AlO, C2, CN, and TiO Spectra Following Laser-induced Optical Breakdown
Published on: February 14, 2014
Limits of the plane wave approximation in the measurement of molecular properties
Zachary B Walters1, Stefano Tonzani, Chris H Greene
1Department of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA. zwalters@jilau1.colorado.edu
Abstract:
Rescattering electrons offer great potential as probes of molecular properties on ultrafast timescales. The most famous example is molecular tomography, in which high harmonic spectra of oriented molecules are mapped to "tomographic images" of the relevant molecular orbitals. The accuracy of such reconstructions can be greatly affected by the distortion of scattering wave functions from their asymptotic forms due to interactions with the parent ion. We investigate the validity of the commonly used plane wave approximation in molecular tomography, showing how such distortions affect the resulting orbital reconstructions.
Related Concept Videos
IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration
According to Hooke's law, the vibrational frequency is directly proportional to the...
Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission
The de Broglie Wavelength
The Uncertainty Principle
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...

