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Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Light-Induced Ultrafast Molecular Dynamics: From Photochemistry to Optochemistry
Hui Li1, Xiaochun Gong1, Hongcheng Ni1
1State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
Abstract:
By precisely controlling the waveform of ultrashort laser fields, electronic and nuclear motions in molecules can be steered on extremely short time scales, even in the attosecond regime. This new research field, termed "optochemistry", presents the light field in the time-frequency domain and opens new avenues for tailoring molecular reactions beyond photochemistry. This Perspective summarizes the ultrafast laser techniques employed in recent years for manipulating the molecular reactions based on waveform control of intense ultrashort laser pulses, where the chemical reactions can take place in isolated molecules, clusters, and various nanosystems. The underlying mechanisms for the coherent control of molecular dynamics are explicitly explored. Challenges and opportunities coexist in the field of optochemistry. Advanced technologies and theoretical modeling are still being pursued, with great prospects for controlling chemical reactions with unprecedented spatiotemporal precision.
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