Abstract

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) femtosecond pulse technologies have enabled mode-selective multi-quantum vibrational excitation and have opened a way to control molecular reactions at electronic ground states. However, attempts at realization of vibrational control in the condensed-phase systems have been hampered so far by poor excitation efficiency and fast intramolecular vibrational relaxation. Introduction of plasmonics to ultrafast quantum control may resolve these issues and open a new avenue toward “controlled ground-state chemistry”. What is important here is that interaction between mid-IR light and molecular vibration can be substantially enhanced via surface plasmon excitation, which has been used in surface-enhanced IR absorption spectroscopy [1].

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