Infrarot-Photochemie mit Lasern? / Infrared Photochemistry with Lasers?

Abstract

The possibility of controlled chemical reactions by resonance laser activation of molecular vibrational modes is considered. This produces a selective heating of one or more vibrational degrees of freedom and a correspondingly rapid increase in the reaction rates. The competition between chemical processes and relaxation by energy transfer to other degrees of freedom is discussed. The verification of this new reaction principle requires lasers with realistic parameters. A few experimental results are reviewed.