This excites the molecule into another excited state, from which we can, with another laser light, break it down into two atoms.

At extremely cold temperatures, it goes quantum: it exists in an oscillating waveform spanning an excited state, an unexcited state, or both simultaneously, all controlled by electrical currents.

Particles in the solar wind collide with gas molecules high in Earth's atmosphere, transferring some of their energy and boosting the molecules' electrons into an 'excited' state.