Rotational excitation of molecules with long sequences of intense femtosecond pulses

We investigate the prospects of creating broad rotational wave packets by means of molecular interaction with long sequences of intense femtosecond pulses. Using state-resolved rotational Raman spectroscopy of oxygen, subject to a sequence of more than 20 laser pulses with peak intensities exceeding $10^{13}$ W/cm$^{2}$ per pulse, we show that the centrifugal distortion is the main obstacle on the way to reaching high rotational states. We demonstrate that the timing of the pulses can be optimized to partially mitigate the centrifugal limit. The cumulative effect of a long pulse sequence results in high degree of rotational coherence, which is shown to cause an efficient spectral broadening of probe light via cascaded Raman transitions.