Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : We show that a combination of a half-cycle pulse and a short nonresonant laser pulse produces a strongly enhanced postpulse orientation. Robust transients that display both efficient and long-lived orientation are obtained. The mechanism is analyzed in terms of optimal oriented target states in finite Hilbert subspaces and shows that hybrid pulses can prove useful for other control issues. © 2005 The American Physical Society.