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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Sound emission from the gas of molecular superrotors
Abstract:
We use an optical centrifuge to deposit a controllable amount of rotational energy into dense molecular ensembles. Subsequent rotation-translation energy transfer, mediated by thermal collisions, results in the localized heating of the gas and generates strong sound wave, clearly audible to the unaided ear. For the first time, the amplitude of the sound signal is analyzed as a function of the experimentally measured rotational energy and linear proportionality between the two observables is established.
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