Aligning molecules with intense nonresonant laser fields

Molecules in a seeded supersonic beam are aligned by the interaction between an intense nonresonant linearly polarized laser field and the molecular polarizability. We demonstrate the general applicability of the scheme by aligning I2, ICl, CS2, CH3I, and C6H5I molecules. The alignment is probed by mass selective two dimensional imaging of the photofragment ions produced by femtosecond laser pulses. Calculations on the degree of alignment of I2 are in good agreement with the experiments. We discuss some future applications of laser aligned molecules.