Vinod Kumarappan

Vinod Kumarappan is a Professor in the Department of Physics at Kansas State University specializing in laser-induced molecular alignment/orientation for ultrafast molecular-frame studies. His group combines experimental gas-phase measurements with computational modeling of rotational dynamics.

Education:

• Ph.D. Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (2002)
• M.S. Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (1996)
• B.S. Physics, University of Calicut (1994)

Research Focus: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics utilizing femtosecond lasers to restrict molecular orientations. His work enables orientation-specific measurements of strong-field ionization, fragmentation, and harmonic generation. Current projects include molecular-frame photoelectron spectroscopy and ultrafast electron diffraction.

Publication Trends: Recent work (2017-2021) examines strong-field interactions in O2, CO2, and methanol using rotational wave packets, bridging experimental ultrafast physics with computational quantum dynamics simulations for asymmetric molecules.

Grants & Advising: Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Advises PhD students including Tomthin Wangjam. Research Group: Operates experimental laser facilities and develops parallel computational codes (OpenMP) for 3D rotational dynamics of asymmetric tops.