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Updated: May 3, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Role of rotational wave packets in strong field experiments
S J Weber1, M Oppermann2, J P Marangos2
1CEA-Saclay, IRAMIS, Service des Photons, Atomes et Molecules, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France and Department of Physics, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Complex revival features of rotational wave packets are obtained from the interplay of a molecular rotational distribution and a measured physical observable. The analysis of the measured temporal behavior can be used to retrieve either one or both quantities. We show here the first observation of high order fractional revival (up to 1/12 in CO2) using time-of-flight measurements of ion yields leading to the information required for full reconstruction of the rotational wave packet. We further show via an analysis of higher order fractional revivals in high harmonic generation that new information on the participating ionic channels can be clearly identified, showing the general implication of our results.
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