Quantum control of molecular wavepackets: An approximate analytic solution for the strong-response regime

We derive a simple approximate analytic solution for the driving field that will generate a desired target vibrational wavepacket in a diatomic molecule. This solution is valid for arbitrary population transfer from the initial to the final electronic states. Analytic solutions to the control problem are possible when the control field is of shorter duration than the characteristic time scale of the system being manipulated. For target states that are localized wavepackets, our technique yields multiple solutions for the control field. We describe a procedure to choose from the set of solutions one that achieves both the target state and population transfer with high accuracy, for a large class of target states, The fidelity of each solution is tested by comparing the state obtained from a direct numerical integration of Schrodinger's equation using the analytic solution with the specified target state.