Molecular identification by generating coherence between molecular normal modes using stimulated Raman scattering

We propose a method of driving the vibrations of normal modes of a target molecule into coherence using stimulated Raman scattering. In concert many vibrations can produce a larger anti-Stokes signal than a single vibration. The same illumination does not drive other molecules to have coherent vibrations so that these molecules produce a weaker signal. We investigate how target and confounder molecules can be distinguished by pulses that drive many vibrations coherently, which has applications in coherent Raman microspectroscopy. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America