DOI: 10.1063/5.0357560 ISSN: 0021-9606
Geometrical optimization approach to wave packet localization
Bo Y. Chang, David Veintemillas, Seokmin Shin, Ignacio R. SolaWe derive a variational approach to control the position and dispersion of a vibrational wave packet by optimizing its initial state, proposing different functionals that maximize the probability of finding the wave packet within a predetermined spatial region or minimize deviations of its average position and dispersion with respect to the desired values. Through optical excitation to a photodissociative potential, the method can be used to prepare wave packets at nearly any desired bond length with small dispersion. These wave packets can then be addressed by a second pump pulse to probe otherwise inaccessible molecular configurations and enhance the yield of highly non-Franck–Condon transitions.