Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userTorsional and rotational coupling in non-rigid molecules
123
0
0.0
(
0
)
Added by
Juan Jos\\'e Omiste
Publication date
2016
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We analyze theoretically the interplay between the torsional and the rotational motion of an aligned biphenyl-like molecule. To do so, we consider a transition between two electronic states with different internal torsional potentials, induced by means of a resonant laser pulse. The change in the internal torsional potential provokes the motion of the torsional wavepacket in the excited electronic state, modifying the structure of the molecule, and hence, its inertia tensor. We find that this process has a strong impact on the rotational wave function, displaying different behavior depending on the electronic states involved and their associated torsional potentials. We describe the dynamics of the system by considering the degree of alignment and the expectations values of the angular momentum operators for the overall rotation of the molecule.
rate research
Read More
We introduce a new optical tool - a two-dimensional optical centrifuge, capable of aligning molecules in extreme rotational states. Unlike the conventional centrifuge, which confines the molecules in the plane of their rotation, its two-dimensional version aligns the molecules along a well-defined axis, similarly to the effect of a single linearly polarized laser pulse, but at a much higher level of rotational excitation. The increased robustness of ultra-high rotational states with respect to collisions results in a longer life time of the created alignment in dense media, offering new possibilities for studying and utilizing aligned molecular ensembles under ambient conditions.
Linearly polarized light can exert a torque on a birefringent object when passing through it. This phenomena, present in Maxwells equations, was revealed by Poynting and beautifully demonstrated in the pioneer experiments of Beth and Holbourn. Modern uses of this effect lie at the heart of optomechanics with angular momentum exchange between light and matter. A milestone of controlling movable massive objects with light is the reduction of their mechanical fluctuations, namely cooling. Optomechanical cooling has been implemented through linear momentum transfer of the electromagnetic field in a variety of systems, but remains unseen for angular momentum transfer to rotating objects. We present the first observation of cooling in a rotational optomechanical system. Particularly, we reduce the thermal noise of the torsional modes of a birefringent optical nanofiber, with resonant frequencies near 200 kHz and a Q-factor above $mathbf{2times10^4}$. Nanofibers are centimeter long, sub-micrometer diameter optical fibers that confine propagating light, reaching extremely large intensities, hence enhancing optomechanical effects. The nanofiber is driven by a propagating linearly polarized laser beam. We use polarimetry of a weak optical probe propagating through the nanofiber as a proxy to measure the torsional response of the system. Depending on the polarization of the drive, we can observe both reduction and enhancement of the thermal noise of many torsional modes, with noise reductions beyond a factor of two. The observed effect opens a door to manipulate the torsional motion of suspended optical waveguides in general, expanding the field of rotational optomechanics, and possibly exploiting its quantum nature for precision measurements in mesoscopic systems.
Qubit coherence times are critical to the performance of any robust quantum computing platform. For quantum information processing using arrays of polar molecules, a key performance parameter is the molecular rotational coherence time. We report a 93(7) ms coherence time for rotational state qubits of laser cooled CaF molecules in optical tweezer traps, over an order of magnitude longer than previous systems. Inhomogeneous broadening due to the differential polarizability between the qubit states is suppressed by tuning the tweezer polarization and applied magnetic field to a magic angle. The coherence time is limited by the residual differential polarizability, implying improvement with further cooling. A single spin-echo pulse is able to extend the coherence time to nearly half a second. The measured coherence times demonstrate the potential of polar molecules as high fidelity qubits.
We combine experimental and theoretical approaches to explore excited rotational states of molecules embedded in helium nanodroplets using CS$_2$ and I$_2$ as examples. Laser-induced nonadiabatic molecular alignment is employed to measure spectral lines for rotational states extending beyond those initially populated at the 0.37 K droplet temperature. We construct a simple quantum mechanical model, based on a linear rotor coupled to a single-mode bosonic bath, to determine the rotational energy structure in its entirety. The calculated and measured spectral lines are in good agreement. We show that the effect of the surrounding superfluid on molecular rotation can be rationalized by a single quantity -- the angular momentum, transferred from the molecule to the droplet.
The mixed-field orientation of an asymmetric-rotor molecule with its permanent dipole moment non-parallel to the principal axes of polarizability is investigated experimentally and theoretically. We find that for the typical case of a strong, nonresonant laser field and a weak static electric field complete 3D orientation is induced if the laser field is elliptically polarized and if its major and minor polarization axes are not parallel to the static field. For a linearly polarized laser field solely the dipole moment component along the most polarizable axis of the molecule is relevant resulting in 1D orientation even when the laser polarization and the static field are non parallel. Simulations show that the dipole moment component perpendicular to the most-polarizable axis becomes relevant in a strong dc electric field combined with the laser field. This offers an alternative approach to 3D orientation by combining a linearly-polarized laser field and a strong dc electric field arranged at an angle equal to the angle between the most polarizable axis of the molecule and its permanent dipole moment.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
