Rates for multiphoton absorption by molecules in the regime where perturbation theory is valid are computed. The importance of the contributions to the rates of permanent moments is shown. The results are expressed in terms of generalised Einstein B coefficients which are shown to arise both from quantum electrodynamical and semiclassical arguments; the authors remain within the electric dipole approximation throughout. Explicit and detailed results for two- and three-photon absorption are given for plane-polarised and circularly-polarised light. These are found both for molecules rigidly fixed relative to the light beams and for random orientation of the molecules. In the latter case the rates are presented in terms of the transition and permanent moments in the molecular-body coordinate frame of reference.
Rates for multiphoton absorption by molecules in the regime where perturbation theory is valid are computed. The importance of the contributions to the rates of permanent moments is shown. The results are expressed in terms of generalised Einstein B coefficients which are shown to arise both from quantum electrodynamical and semiclassical arguments; the authors remain within the electric dipole approximation throughout. Explicit and detailed results for two- and three-photon absorption are given for plane-polarised and circularly-polarised light. These are found both for molecules rigidly fixed relative to the light beams and for random orientation of the molecules. In the latter case the rates are presented in terms of the transition and permanent moments in the molecular-body coordinate frame of reference.
Perturbative corrections are derived for the rotating-wave approximation (RWA) for the single-photon and multiphoton resonance profiles due to the interaction between a two-level molecule, with nonzero permanent dipoles, and a sinusoidal time-dependent electric field. The derivation is carried out through the use of a Floquet secular equation that introduces the effects of the permanent dipole moments into the problem through the argument, d\ensuremath{\cdot}e^scrE/\ensuremath{\omega}, of Bessel functions contained in molecule-laser coupling parameters; here d=${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{22}$-${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{11}$, where ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{ii}}$ is the permanent dipole of molecular state i, and scrE, e^, and \ensuremath{\omega} are the field strength, direction of polarization unit vector, and the circular frequency of the electromagnetic field (EMF). Expansions for the N-photon resonance profiles and the associated resonance frequencies and full widths at half maximum, in powers of the couplings between the transition and permanent dipole moments and the applied EMF, are obtained by expanding the Bessel functions in the perturbative results and are compared with those in the literature (available mostly for d=0 only). The perturbative results, and a series of exactly calculated two-level model absorption spectra, are used to discuss (1) the ability of the explicit perturbative corrections to the RWA to explain the differences between exact and RWA resonance profiles (for example, the positive or negative Bloch-Siegert shifts and dynamic backgrounds absent in the RWA), (2) the usefulness of the perturbative corrections in general, and (3) the effects of permanent dipoles on single-photon and multiphoton absorption spectra.
The effects of permanent dipole moments and those due to the randomness of molecular orientation in the phase control of molecular excitation are discussed for the simultaneous one- and three-photon excitation of a two-level model molecule. In this transition scheme both transitions can occur with or without the presence of permanent dipoles and the results are contrasted to those corresponding to the one- and two-photon excitation of a two-level molecule, which requires the presence of permanent dipoles. The dependence of the temporal evolution of the excited state and the associated resonance profiles on the relative phase of the lasers is used to monitor the control of the excitation process. Analytical perturbation theory, the rotating-wave approximation, and exact Floquet results for those observables are used for this purpose. Both fixed molecule-laser configurations and situations where the absorbing molecules assume random orientations with respect to the laser beams are considered. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The interaction of two continuous wave electric fields (lasers) with a two-level molecule, that has a nonzero difference d, between the permanent dipoles of the two states involved in a multiphoton two-color transition, is studied in the rotating wave approximation and by using exact methods. Analytical rotating wave approximation results for the time-dependent populations of the molecular states and for the resonance profiles are derived and used to help discuss the effects of permanent dipole moments in the two-color absorption problem. Several examples of multiphoton, two-color, two-level resonance profiles calculated in the rotating wave approximation and by using exact techniques, are employed for illustrative purposes. They are used to help quantify the conditions for the validity of the two-color rotating wave approximation, which are considerably more restrictive than the analogous conditions for the one-color rotating wave approximation with d≠0, and to illustrate the interpretive and predictive nature of the rotating wave approximation results. For example, there are many multiphoton, two-color transitions that are available if a molecule possesses permanent dipoles (d≠0). The analytic rotating wave approximation expression for the molecule-two laser coupling can often be used to reliably estimate the field parameters of the two lasers that are required to optimize a given transition relative to others.
An analytic expression for the absorption spectra of a two-level molecule or atom is derived, within the rotating wave approximation (RWA), which includes the effects of permanent dipole moments and static electric fields. The derivation is for the interaction of the system with a plane-polarized sinusoidal electromagnetic field (EMF) in the semi-classical electric dipole approximation. The RWA resonance profile, and a series of exactly calculated two-level model spectra, are used to investigate some single- and multi-photon spectral effects due to permanent dipoles and static fields, relative to the atomic problem (no permanent dipoles). These effects include the occurrence of even as well as odd photon transitions. Permanent dipole moments can cause narrowing of the resonances, oscillatory fringes around the resonances as a function of frequency, and decreases in the molecule-EMF coupling, relative to the atomic results. Comparisons with exact two-level model spectra are used to study the validity of the RWA results and indicate that several features, such as dynamic backgrounds and shifts of the resonance frequencies from the weak EMF limits of {dollar}\\omega\\sbsp{lcub}\\rm res{rcub}{lcub}\\rm N{rcub}{dollar} = {dollar}\\Delta{dollar}E/N, N = 1,2,3, dots, are missing in the RWA spectra as the coupling increases.;Perturbative corrections to the RWA absorption spectra and the full widths at half maxima for the resonances are derived, neglecting static fields, and used to investigate and explain the effects missing in the RWA; the RWA resonance profile is a zeroth plus first order result obtainable from a time-independent Floquet Hamiltonian secular equation. The usefulness and validity of the perturbative corrections are investigated and it is concluded that these corrections are not useful computationally past second order. However, the corrections are useful in understanding some of the deficiencies of the RWA. These include the shifts of the N-photon resonance positions to low frequency, with respect to {dollar}\\Delta{dollar}E/N, that can occur for molecules with non-zero permanent dipoles; the shift is always to high frequency for atoms. A series of exact model calculations, for "giant dipole" molecules, is also used to discuss the effects of permanent dipole moments on spectra and to establish comparisons with the recent literature on the subject.
In this paper we extend our earlier work on cooperative two-photon absorption to the case of one- and three-photon allowed transitions using the principles of quantum electrodynamics. After deriving a general rate equation we consider two specific molecular systems: (i) van der Waals molecules in which the two centers have a fixed mutual orientation; and (ii) fluid samples with random molecular orientation. Calculations are shown to involve a new type of rotational average which gives rise to two-photon circular dichroism in case (i). The dependence of the rate upon molecular separation is discussed in detail, as is the possibility of resonance enhancement if suitable intermediate energy levels are present. Finally we draw attention to an effect specific to this mode of cooperative absorption and speculate on the possibility of direct observation of the effects of retardation.
The efficiencies of one- and two-photon absorption by chromophores in solution may be significantly modified by a sufficiently intense beam of off-resonant light. A molecular analysis based on quantum electrodynamics (QED) fully accounts for this phenomenon of laser-modified absorption. A time-dependent perturbation-theory treatment describes the process in terms of stimulated forward Rayleigh-scattering of the auxiliary beam occurring simultaneously with the absorption interaction(s). Our formulation accommodates media modifications to the basic character of light-matter interactions, taking into account the refractive and dispersive properties of a solution-phase environment. This introduces the bulk refractive index of the solvent directly into the QED framework. The measurable electronic response of molecules freely rotating in solution is defined by an average of all orientations. We explicitly derive fixed-orientation and rotationally averaged calculations for the Fermi-rule rate of laser-modified one- and two-photon absorption. For a given beam polarization geometry, the solution-phase molecular response is expressible as a set of natural invariant scalars. These results reveal details of the dependence on the beam polarisations and on the rotationally averaged molecular response: we illustrate the breadth of variation available via geometric manipulation of beam polarization, and raise new possibilities for quantum weak measurements of laser states.