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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Time-resolved photoelectron angular distributions from strong-field ionization of rotating naphthalene molecules
Jonas L Hansen1, Henrik Stapelfeldt, Darko Dimitrovski
1Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, iNANO, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Abstract:
A nanosecond laser pulse confines the spatial orientation of naphthalene in 1D or 3D while a femtosecond kick pulse initiates rotation of the molecular plane around the fixed long axis. Time-dependent photoelectron angular distributions (PADs), resulting from ionization by an intense femtosecond probe pulse, exhibit pronounced changes as the molecular plane rotates. Enhanced 3D alignment, occurring shortly after the kick pulse, provides strongly improved contrast in molecular-frame PADs. Calculations in the strong-field approximation show that the striking structures observed in the PADs originate from nodal planes in occupied valence orbitals.
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