Title: Coherent Control of Photoassociation at High and Low Temperature

Speaker: Christiane Koch, Institut für Physik, Universität Kassel

Abstract:

Molecules can be assembled from atoms using laser light. This process is termed photoassociation. With the advent of femtosecond lasers and pulse shaping techniques, photoassociation became a natural candidate for coherent control of a binary reaction. While coherent control has been very successful for unimolecular processes, controlling a binary reaction has remained an open challenge. The main difference between unimolecular processes and a binary reaction lies in the initial state - a single or few well-defined bound quantum states vs an incoherent continuum of scattering states. For a binary reaction, the nature of the scattering continuum is mainly determined by the temperature, and thus quantum purity, of the initial ensemble. I will discuss the possibilities to control photoassociation at high and ultralow temperatures.

Coffee, tee and cake will be served at 15:05.

Annette Svendsen, Jacob Sherson and Aurelien Dantan