Experimental observation of revival structures in picosecond laser-inducedalignment of I-2 - art. no. 153902

We report the experimental observation of revival structures in the alignme nt of a ground-state rotational wave packet following nonresonant excitatio n of I-2 molecules by an intense picosecond laser pulse. The revivals appea r at characteristic time delays following the excitation by the pump laser pulse, and show a significant narrowing of the angular distribution during a few picoseconds. The interaction with the pump laser also leads to a stea dy-state alignment of the molecule, due to rotational pumping.