Femtosecond laser-induced alignment and periodic recurrences in hydrogen and deuterium
are measured in a single shot for the first time, in a room temperature gas cell. Single-shot
Supercontinuum Spectral Interferometry (SSSI) is employed, with measurements also
performed in room temperature samples of nitrogen, oxygen, and nitrous oxide. Unlike
previous optical techniques for probing molecular alignment in gases or liquids, SSSI
quantitatively and directly measures the degree of molecular alignment without reliance on …

Femtosecond laser induced alignment and periodic recurrences of room temperature
hydrogen and deuterium molecules are measured in a single shot for the first time, using
single-shot supercontinuum spectral interferometry (SSSI). The measurements are also
performed in oxygen and some other common linear molecular gases. Employing time-
dependent first order perturbation theory, an analytical model of rotational wavepacket
revivals is derived, which shows good agreement with the experiment.