Tailoring of vibrational state populations with light-induced potentials in molecules

Summary form only given. We propose a method for achieving highly efficient transfer between the vibrational states in a diatomic molecule. The process is mediated by strong laser pulses and can be understood in terms of light-induced potentials. Light-induced potentials were also key to understanding APLIP (adiabatic passage by light induced potentials), where a wave packet is guided from one ground vibrational state to another. However, in the new process we show how to target specific vibrational states with strong short pulses. In addition to describing a specific molecular system, our results show how, in general, one can manipulate the populations of the different quantum states in double well systems.