Aligning molecules with intense nonresonant laser fields

Molecules in a seeded supersonic beam are aligned by the interaction between an intense nonresonant linearly polarized laser field and the molecular polarizability. We demonstrate the general applicability of the scheme by aligning I-2, ICl, CS2, CH3I, and C6H5I molecules. The alignment is probed by mass selective two dimensional imaging of the photofragment ions produced by femtosecond laser pulses. Calculations on the degree of alignment of I-2 are in good agreement with the experiments. We discuss some future applications of laser aligned molecules. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(99)01541-X].