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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Nonclassical correlations between terahertz-bandwidth photons mediated by rotational quanta in hydrogen molecules
Abstract:
Quantum photonics offers much promise for the development of new technologies. The ability to control the interaction of light and matter at the level of single quantum excitations is a prerequisite for the construction of potentially powerful devices. Here we use the rotational levels of a room temperature ensemble of hydrogen molecules to couple two distinct optical modes at the single photon level using femtosecond pulses with 2 THz bandwidth. We observe photon correlations that violate a Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, thereby verifying the creation of a nonclassical state. This work demonstrates the rich potential of molecules for use in ultrafast quantum photonic devices.
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