Femtosecond pump-shaped-dump quantum control of retinal isomerization in bacteriorhodopsin

We experimentally demonstrate molecular quantum control on the photoisomerization of retinal in bacteriorhodopsin with pump and shaped-dump feratosecond laser pulses. The objective is a reversion of regular control schemes for optimal excitation in which the pump pulse is shaped. Instead, we seek optimal de-excitation with a shaped-dump pulse. The pump-shaped-dump-probe scheme allows control of molecular systems away from the initial Franck Condon window in regions of the potential-energy landscape where the decisive reaction step occurs. In addition, this method has the potential to provide information on wave packet evolution and underlying potentialenergy surfaces. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.