Orienting molecules using half-cycle pulses

Using a rigid-rotor model, we study the orientation dynamics of polar diatomic molecules excited by experimentally available half-cycle pulses. The results of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation are compared to those of an approximate “sudden-impact” impulsive model neglecting the molecular rotation during the pulse. We show that efficient orientation is achieved during time periods of several picoseconds for LiCl. For short pulses, where the kicked molecule model is valid, orientation turns out to be mainly sensitive to the time-integrated field amplitude and not the shape or rise time of the pulse. Received 16 August 2000 and Received in final form 4 December 2000