Using femtosecond technology to control molecular dynamics in strong laser fields

Summary form only given. The desire to control the dynamics of quantum systems is both a driving force and a unifying theme in many areas of modern laser-matter interaction physics. For example, optical manipulation of cold atoms (atom optics) focuses on controlling the translational degrees of freedom of an atom, while various coherent control techniques attempt to use laser fields to manipulate the internal dynamics of atomic and molecular systems. I will describe approaches in strong-field molecular optics. Molecular optics shares with atom optics the aim of controlling position, velocity and acceleration. It also aims to control intrinsically molecular properties such as rotations, from alignment to angular acceleration.