Optical creation of vibrational intrinsic localized modes in anharmonic lattices with realistic interatomic potentials

Using an efficient optimal control scheme to determine the exciting fields, we theoretically demonstrate the optical creation of vibrational intrinsic localized modes (ILM’s) in anharmonic perfect lattices with realistic interatomic potentials. For systems with finite size, we show that ILM’s can be excited directly by applying a sequence of femtosecond visible laser pulses at THz repetition rates. For periodic lattices, ILM’s can be created indirectly via decay of an unstable extended lattice mode which is excited optically either by a sequence of pulses as described above or by a single picosecond far-infrared laser pulse with linearly chirped frequency. In light of recent advances in experimental laser-pulse shaping capabilities, the approach is experimentally promising.