Probing the dynamical response of organic molecules to intense laser pulses

We begin by laying out the theory behind the work including an explanation of the calculations. Then we look at the interaction of benzene with both circularly- and linearly-polarised infra-red laser pulses.

The effect of allowing the ions to move is investigated as is the effect of including self-interaction corrections to the exchange-correlation functional. We then move on to study ionization of acetylene by vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) laser pulses.<br><br>We focus on orientation effects with the molecule in parallel and perpendicular orientation to the laser and investigate tuning the laser to drive excitation. Our final set of results looks at methyl oxirane (a chiral molecule).