| Abstract: | Molecular beam techniques for study of collisional and spectroscopic processes have recently been enhanced by use of static electric or magnetic fields to orient or align molecules with permanent dipole moments. A more general method is now in prospect, applicable both to alignment and to spatial trapping of molecules. This exploits the anisotropic interaction of the electric field vector of intense laser radiation with the dipole moment induced in a polarizable molecule by the laser field. The interaction creates directional superpositions of field-free states that correspond to oblate spheroidal wavefunctions, with eigenenergies that decrease with increasing field strength. We suggest that this polarizability interaction produces the marked alignment found in laser-induced dissociative ionization of CO by the Saclay group. We also present calculations illustrating the feasibility of spattal trapping. In combination with supermirror focussing and buffer-gas cooling, an intense infrared laser can typically confine molecules for long-times (-hours) within a small (-picoliter) and cold (?1°K) “pocket of light.” |
