Abstract

The use of multiple femtosecond excitation pulses for increased control over material behavior has been demonstrated experimentally¹⁻³ and also discussed at some length theoretically⁴. Applications demonstrated to date include vibrational amplification in crystal lattices and manipulation of molecular electronic and vibrational coherences. One of the primary goals is increased control over chemical or structural rearrangements. Some of the experimental challenges involved include electronic and vibrational dephasing, which limit the extent to which the effects of the first pulse in a sequence are "remembered" by a sample as additional pulses arrive, and unwanted optical effects which lead to unwanted material responses or even sample damage and which limit the light intensity that can be used.

© 1992 The Author(s)