Analyzing the Signal of the Ultrafast Optical Kerr Effect by Considering the Correlation between the Rotational Responses of Molecules in a Liquid

Abstract

The signal of the ultrafast optical Kerr effect (OKE) in liquids, including toluene C₇H₈, nitrobenzene C₆H₅NO₂, and acetonitrile C₂H₃N is analyzed. It is shown that considering the correlation between the orientational and librational responses allows us to determine the rise time of the orientational response associated with the inertial nature of molecular rotations over a time interval of 300–500 fs after the impact of a laser pulse, and to increase the accuracy of determining the form of the Raman spectral density function.