Schrödinger Cat State Spectroscopy-A New Frontier for Analytical Chemistry

The invention of the laser generated great excitement, because its ability to create quantum state coherences could form a new family of coherent spectroscopies that were the optical analogue of multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The full realization of this promise has not yet been realized, but the pathway forward is clear. The path involves the use of multiple, tunable lasers that create a Schrödinger cat state, where the system is simultaneously in a mixture of vibrational and/or electronic states. The multiplicity of these states confers many advantages for analytical methods: high selectivity from the multiple spectral dimensions, line-narrowing, isolation of spectral features where quantum states are coupled, and spectral decongestion. Now that the feasibility of Schrödinger cat spectroscopy has been demonstrated, the future is open for the development of a new frontier in analytical chemistry that creates a new set of tools for studying the complex systems that form the heart of analytical chemistry.