Manipulating molecules with intense lasers

Molecules exposed to intense, sub-picosecond laser fields exhibit phenomena such as above threshold ionization, high harmonic generation, bond softening, bond hardening (vibrational trapping) and alignment. They can be deflected, accelerated, focused, trapped and spun. More generally, one can manipulate the outcome of a uni-or bimolecular reaction by the coherent superposition of two or more lasers (coherent control) or by using a sequence of ultrashort laser pulses. This article will take a brief and necessarily limited look at some of these methods of molecular manipulation.