The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Vancouver campus
Ultrafast Coherent Control Group
  • Home
  • Research
  • Publications
  • About us
  • Laser control of chiral molecules

    Optical centrifuge orients chiral molecules, with the direction of orientation depending on the relative handedness of the molecular enantiomer and the rotating centrifuge field!

  • Ultrafast Gas Magnetization

    Optical centrifuge aligns the electronic spins of paramagnetic super-rotors, producing macroscopic magnetic fields in the gas on a picosecond time scale!

  • Anderson Localization of Molecular Rotation

    Molecules exposed to intense laser pulses exhibit chaotic dynamics, dominated by the effect of quantum localization

  • Suppression of Rotational Decoherence

    Molecular super-rotors “forget” the phase of their ultra-fast rotation more than 10 times slower than thermal molecules

  • Gyroscopic Dynamics and Sound Generation

    Molecular super-rotors dissipate their enormous rotational energy into sound waves, detectable by unaided ear

  • Molecular Alignment

    Strong centrifugal forces produced by an optical centrifuge confine asymmetric super-rotors to the plane of their rotation

  • Centrifuge Spectroscopy

    Ionization spectra of O2 super-rotors with J=120, ten times above its room-temperature value

  • Molecular Stopwatches and Cogwheels

    Rotational wave function of a super-rotor exhibits non-classical cogwheel structure!

  • Molecular Super Rotors

    Time-dependent rotational Raman spectra reveal rotational frequencies of laser-centrifuged molecules exceeding 10 THz!

  • Optical Centrifuge

    Optical centrifuge is a laser pulse whose linear polarization undergoes accelerated rotation, sweeping a corkscrew-shape surface. Molecules line up along the polarization vector and follow its rotation.                                  

Latest group news

Coverage in Popular Media

  • April, 2020. AIP Scilight: link.
  • June, 2019. Chemistry World: link.
  • June, 2017. Physics World: link.
  • September, 2015. Synopsis in Physics: link.
  • September, 2015. Nplus1 (in Russian): link
  • March, 2014. Viewpoint in Physics: link.
  • January 2014. Chemistry World: link.

Students achievements

  • Ryan receives NSERC PGS-D scholarship!
  • Ian receives UBC 4YF scholarship!
  • Martin wins CAP thesis prize! (link)
  • Aleksey is a finalist for APS thesis award! (link)

Positions Available!

  • We are looking for graduate students (English, Russian)



Dr. Valery Milner
Vancouver Campus
Department of Physics and Astronomy 6224 Agricultural Road
Office: Hennings 278
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1
Tel 1 604 822 3399
Website www.phas.ubc.ca/users/valery-milner
Email vmilner@phas.ubc.ca
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility