Modified optical centrifuge has potential to open up new ways for the study of superrotors

Using corkscrew-shaped laser pulses, scientists at DESY have devised a sophisticated optical centrifuge that can make molecules rotate rapidly about a desired molecular axis. The innovative method opens up new ways to control and study super fast spinning molecules, called superrotors. Until now, optical centrifuges can make molecules rotate about one specific axis only. The new scheme lets scientists select between two axes. Alec Owens, Andrey Yachmenev and Jochen Küpper from the Controlled Mo...