Population transfer and dissociation control in diatomic molecules in intense pulse lasers

The study of laser molecular interactions continues to be a highly exciting and significant field of research both for probing the intricacies of molecular dynamics as well as to control the different field induced molecular processes. The control aspects of laser molecular interactions have gained prominence in recent times and with the availability of intense ultrashort laser pulses it has become easier to manipulate the desired outcome of the different field induced molecular processes. The study of multiphoton dissociation and population transfer, in presence of a pulsed laser field within the theoretical framework of wavepacket propagation have been discussed in this thesis. The thesis also includes discussions of results related to generation of wavepackets for molecular ions under intense field and the subsequent probing and control of such wavepackets. Small diatomic molecules have been chosen as the model quantum system for this work and this helps in a simple physical interpretation of the complicated dynamical processes involved. The thesis starts with a brief introduction of the current scenario of the laser molecular interaction studies. It also gives an account of the basic objectives of the works undertaken. The rest of the thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the time dependent studies of laser induced molecular dissociation and wavepacket dynamics- their generation, probing and control. The second part includes studies related to laser induced population transfer to particular quantum states in diatomic molecules.The research was carried out under the supervision of Prof. S S Bhattacharya of the Materials Science division under the SMS [School of Materials Science]The research was conducted under the CSIR research grant and fellowshi