Frontiers of Molecular Physics Based on Molecular Manipulation Techniques(Current Topic)

Abstract

After the review of the present status of molecular manipulation techniques with intense laser fields, we discuss two illustrative experiments pointing to new directions in molecular physics experiments with a sample of aligned molecules. The first experiment has been performed with a sample of adiabatically aligned I_2 molecules. We have succeeded in controlling multiphoton ionization processes with time-dependent polarization pulses, which are introduced as a new control parameter. The second experiment has been performed with a sample of nonadiabatically aligned molecules. We report the first demonstration of quantum interference of electron de Broglie waves evidenced by high-order harmonic generation from aligned CO_2 molecules. Some of the future subjects have also been discussed.