Excitation without demolition: Radiative excitation of ground-surface vibration by impulsive stimulated Raman scattering with damage control

A pulse shaping strategy is developed for exciting the ground-surface vibrational motion while minimizing radiation damage. The scheme is based on a resonant impulsive stimulated Raman scattering process where the amount of population transferred to the excited surface is strictly controlled. The scenario begins with an impulsive pulse which creates an instantaneous dipole moment. It follows by a pulse 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} out of phase with the instantaneous dipole which deposits vibrational energy into the ground electronic surface while blocking population transfer to the excited surface.