Electric Deflection of Rotating Molecules

摘要

We provide a theory of the deflection of polar and non-polar rotatingmolecules by inhomogeneous static electric field. Rainbow-like features in theangular distribution of the scattered molecules are analyzed in detail.Furthermore, we demonstrate that one may efficiently control the deflectionprocess with the help of short and strong femtosecond laser pulses. Inparticular the deflection process may by turned-off by a proper excitation, andthe angular dispersion of the deflected molecules can be substantially reduced.We study the problem both classically and quantum mechanically, taking intoaccount the effects of strong deflecting field on the molecular rotations. Inboth treatments we arrive at the same conclusions. The suggested control schemepaves the way for many applications involving molecular focusing, guiding, andtrapping by inhomogeneous fields.