Mode-specific laser chemistry

Bond- or Mode-selective Laser Chemistry. Suppose we wish to break a specific bond in a molecule or cause a molecule to rearrange in a specific way, and the desired transformation is not the one which will occur if the molecule is simply heated (i.e., it is not the weakest coordinate in the molecule). Can we, by selectively exciting with a laser the bond or motion in question, cause the desired transformation to occur in greater than thermal yield ... 

Mode-selective chemistry The use of laser beams to control the outcome of a chemical reaction by exciting specific energy states of the reactants. 

Laser excitation is not only a means for providing the necessary energy for chemistry to take place. We begin the discussion of the selectivity achievable by the excitation and the specificity of the detection for the special case of diatomic molecules. Then the spectrum is simpler in that there is only one vibrational mode as well as only one rotational constant. But once the molecule is electronically excited we will find it necessary to allow for the breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer separation. 

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