Hannover 2016 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 1: Quantum Control and Femtosecond Spectroscopy 1
MO 1.3: Talk
Monday, February 29, 2016, 11:30–11:45, f102
Controlling the dynamics of chemical reactions with tailored laser fields — •Robert Siemering1, Matthias Kübel2, Christian Burger2, Nora Kling2, Hui Li2, Boris Bergues2, Ali Alnasar3, Itzik Ben-Itzhak4, Matthias Kling2, and Regina de Vivie-Riedle1 — 1Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany — 3Physics Department, American University of Sharjah, POB26666, Sharjah, UAE — 4J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Physics Department, Kansas-State University, Manhattan, KS66506, USA
The rearrangement of hydrocarbon bonds is a ubiquitous process in chemical reactions related to biology, combustion, and catalysis. Thus, the ability to control the movement of nuclei with tailored light within a hydrocarbon molecule holds promise for far-reaching applications. We demonstrate by experiment and theory the steering of deprotonation from symmetric acetylene molecules and of hydrogen migration in simple hydrocarbons, namely acetylene and allene, using waveform-controlled, few-cycle laser pulses. The rearrangement dynamics are monitored using coincident 3D momentum imaging spectroscopy, and described with a quantum-dynamical model. Our observations reveal that the underlying control mechanism is due to the manipulation of the phases in a vibrational wavepacket by the intense off-resonant laser field. This mechanism permits control over the directionality of chemical reactions via vibrational excitation on timescales defined by the subcycle evolution of the laser waveform.