Ultrafast electron crystallography of interfacial water

Heterogeneity of Water at the Phospholipid Membrane Interface

Femtosecond infrared (IR) two-color pump-probe experiments were used to investigate the nonlinear response of the D2O stretching vibration in weakly hydrated dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) membrane fragments. The vibrational lifetime is comparable to or longer than that in bulk D2O and is frequency dependent, as it decreases with increasing probe frequency. Also, the lifetime increases when the water content of the sample is lowered. The measured lifetimes range between 903 and 390 fs. A long-lived spectral feature grows in following the excitation and is attributed to photoinduced D-bond breaking. The photoproduct spectrum differs from the steady state difference Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum, showing that the full thermalization of the excitation energy happens on a much longer time scale than the time interval considered (12 ps). Further evidence of the inhomogeneous character of the water residing in the polar region of the bilayer comes from the spectral anisotropy. The water molecules absorbing on the low frequency side of the absorption band show no decay at all of the anisotropy, while an ultrafast partial decay appears when the high frequency side of the spectrum is probed. The overall behavior differs remarkably from that observed with similar experiments in bulk water and in water segregated in inverse micelles. In weakly hydrated phospholipid membranes, water molecules are present mostly as isolated species, prevalently involved in strong, rigid, and persistent hydrogen bonds with the polar groups of the bilayer molecules. This specific character appears to have a direct effect on the structural stability and thermal properties of the membrane.

Study of the dynamics of surface molecules by time-resolved sum-frequency generation spectroscopy

Sum-frequency generation (SFG) is a nonlinear laser-spectroscopy technique suitable for analysis of adsorbed molecules. The sub-monolayer sensitivity of SFG spectroscopy enables vibrational spectra to be obtained with high specificity for a variety of molecules on a range of surfaces, including metals, oxides, and semiconductors. The use of ultra-short laser pulses on time-scales of picoseconds also makes time-resolved measurements possible; this can reveal ultrafast transient changes in molecular arrangements. This article reviews recent time-resolved SFG spectroscopy studies revealing site-hopping of adsorbed CO on metal surfaces and the dynamics of energy relaxation at water/metal interfaces.

A pulsed electron gun for ultrafast electron diffraction at surfaces

The construction of a pulsed electron gun for ultrafast reflection high-energy electron diffraction experiments at surfaces is reported. Special emphasis is placed on the characterization of the electron source: a photocathode, consisting of a 10 nm thin Au film deposited onto a sapphire substrate. Electron pulses are generated by the illumination of the film with ultraviolet laser pulses of femtosecond duration. The photoelectrons are emitted homogeneously across the photocathode with an energy distribution of 0.1 eV width. After leaving the Au film, the electrons are accelerated to kinetic energies of up to 15 keV. Focusing is accomplished by an electrostatic lens. The temporal resolution of the experiment is determined by the probing time of the electrons traveling across the surface which is about 30 ps. However, the duration of the electron pulses can be reduced to less than 6 ps.

Analyzing solution-phase time-resolved x-ray diffraction data by isolated-solute models

Extracting transient structural information of a solute from time-resolved x-ray diffraction (TRXD) data is not trivial because the signal from a solution contains not only the solute-only term as in the gas phase, but also solvent-related terms. To obtain structural insights, the diffraction signal in q space is often Fourier sine transformed (FT) into r space, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation-aided signal decomposition into the solute, cage, and solvent terms has so far been indispensable for a clear-cut assignment of structural features. Here we present a convenient method of comparative structural analysis without involving MD simulations by incorporating only isolated-species models for the solute. FT is applied to both the experimental data and candidate isolated-solute models, and comparison of the correlation factors between the experimental FT and the model FTs can distinguish the best candidate among isolated-solute models for the reaction intermediates. The low q region whose influence by solvent-related terms is relatively high can be further excluded, and this mode of truncated Fourier transform (TFT) improves the correlation factors and facilitates the comparison. TFT analysis has been applied to TRXD data on the photodissociation of C(2)H(4)I(2) in two different solvents (methanol and cyclohexane), HgI(2) in methanol, and I(3) (-) in methanol excited at 267 nm. The results are consistent with previous conclusions for C(2)H(4)I(2) in methanol and HgI(2) in methanol, and the new TRXD data reveal that the C(2)H(4)I transient radical has a bridged structure in cyclohexane and I(3) (-) in methanol decomposes into I+I(2) (-) upon irradiation at 267 nm. This TFT method should greatly simplify the analysis because it bypasses MD simulations.

Interfacial Water on Cl- and H-Terminated Si(111) Surfaces from First-Principles Calculations

The properties of interfacial water on Cl- and H-terminated Si(111) surfaces are investigated using a first-principles approach and characterized by means of energetic analysis combined with hydrogen-bond counting. The interaction of water with both substrates is found to be significantly weak, although bonding with the Cl-terminated Si(111) surface is relatively stronger because of the electrostatic contribution. According to a molecular picture for attributing the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character, both surfaces should be considered hydrophobic, at variance with the interpretation of recent ultrafast electron crystallography experiments, which seems instead to support a hydrophilic nature of the Cl-terminated Si(111) substrate.

Effect of pressure on the phase behavior and structure of water confined between nanoscale hydrophobic and hydrophilic plates

We perform systematic molecular dynamics simulations of water confined between two nanoscale plates at T = 300K. We investigate the effect of pressure (-0.15 GPa< or = P< or =0.2GPa) and plate separation (0.4 nm < or =d < or =1.6 nm) on the phase behavior of water when the plates are either hydrophobic or hydrophilic. When water is confined between hydrophobic plates, capillary evaporation occurs between the plates at low enough P. The threshold value of d at which this transition occurs decreases with P (e.g., 1.6 nm at P approximately equal to -0.05 GPa, 0.5 nm at P approximately equal to 0.1 GPa), until, at high P, no capillary evaporation occurs. For d approximately equal to 0.6 nm and P > or =0.1 GPa, the system crystallizes into a bilayer ice. A P-d phase diagram showing the vapor, liquid, and bilayer ice phases is proposed. When water is confined by hydrophilic (hydroxylated silica) plates, it remains in the liquid phase at all P and d studied. Interestingly, we observe for this case that even at the P at which bulk water cavitates, the confined water remains in the liquid state. We also study systematically the state of hydration at different P for both kinds of plates. For the range of conditions studied here, we find that in the presence of hydrophobic plates the effect of P is to enhance water structure and to push water molecules toward the plates. The average orientation of water molecules next to the hydrophobic plates does not change upon pressurization. In contrast, in the presence of hydrophilic plates, water structure is insensitive to P. Hence, our results suggest that upon pressurization, hydrophobic plates behave as "soft" surfaces (in the sense of accommodating pressure-dependent changes in water structure) while hydrophilic walls behave as "hard" surfaces.

Aqueous Solvation Dynamics at Metal Oxide Surfaces

Broadband transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, three-pulse photon echo peak shift (3PEPS), and anisotropy decay measurements were used to study the solvation dynamics in bulk water and interfacial water at ZrO(2) surfaces, using Eosin Y as a probe. The 3PEPS results show a multiexponential behavior with two subpicosecond components that are similar in bulk and interfacial water, while a third component of several picoseconds is significantly lengthened at the interface. The bandwidth correlation function from TA spectra exhibits the same behavior, and the TA spectra are well reproduced using the doorway-window picture with the time constants from PEPS. Our results suggest that interfacial water is restricted to a thickness of less than 5 A. Also the high-frequency collective dynamics of water does not seem to be affected by the interface. On the other hand, the increase of the third component may point to a slowing down of diffusional motion at the interface, although other effects, may play a role, which are discussed.

Ultrafast superheating and melting of bulk ice

The superheating of a solid to a temperature beyond its melting point, without the solid actually melting, is a well-known phenomenon. It occurs with many substances, particularly those that can readily be produced as high-quality crystals. In principle, ice should also be amenable to superheating. But the complex three-dimensional network of hydrogen bonds that holds water molecules together and gives rise to unusual solid and liquid properties strongly affects the melting behaviour of ice; in particular, ice usually contains many defects owing to the directionality of its hydrogen bonds. However, simulations are readily able to 'create' defect-free ice that can be superheated. Here we show that by exciting the OH stretching mode of water, it is possible to superheat ice. When using an ice sample at an initial temperature of 270 K, we observe an average temperature rise of 20 +/- 2 K that persists over the monitored time interval of 250 ps without melting.

State-correlation matrix of the product pair from F + CD4→ DF(ν′) + CD3(0 v20 0)

The title reaction was investigated under crossed-beam conditions at three different collision energies, E(c) = 8.4, 2.76 and 1.46 kcal mol(-1). The combination of using a (2 + 1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization for tagging state-specific CD(3) products and exploiting a time-sliced velocity imaging for ion detection allows us to reveal the coincident information of the two product pairs in a state-correlated manner. The pair-correlated results are reported for the two product vibrators -- (v(2) = 0, v'), (v(2) = 1, v'), (v(2) = 2, v') and (v(2) = 3, v')-and the dynamics attributes we examined include product state distributions, energy disposals and angular distributions. Together with our earlier communications, a rather complete picture of the correlated dynamics of the title reaction emerges. One of the major findings, the anti-correlated excitations of the two product vibrators at all four energies of this study, can qualitatively be understood by kinematics arguments.

On the linear and nonlinear acoustic properties of dry and water-confining elasto-plastic interfaces

An experimental investigation into the linear reflection and generation of the second harmonic component following the incidence of an ultrasonic wave onto a dry or water-confining interface between elasto-plastic steel–steel surfaces in contact is presented. The results on dry interfaces show that, although the theoretical models currently used to estimate the stiffness of such interfaces constitute a valid framework, the statistics of asperities in contact requires further development to account for the effects of the elasto-plastic deformation. Similarly, the results with water-confining interfaces indicate that current models not accounting for the liquid-mediated forces between the solid surfaces cannot explain the results presented here. In fact, the experimental evidence is interpreted as suggesting that structural repulsive forces may be responsible for the observed phenomena. Finally, the level of second harmonic generation for these interfaces offers support by the development of inspection techniques which exploit such wave phenomena for the detection of partially closed and dry, or nearly open and water-trapping stress-corrosion surface-breaking cracks.

Graph Theory for Fused Cubic Clusters of Water Dodecamer

The stable structures of the fused cubic water cluster (H2O)12 are examined using graph theoretical techniques and ab initio calculations. The calculations are obtained by scanning the symmetry of digraph structures of hydrogen-bond network spanning 12 oxygen atom vertexes. Using the Pólya theorem the cycle index expressions for 12 vertexes and 20 edges of a cuboid in point-group symmetry D(4h) are developed. A total of 91 energy-allowed fused cubic structures are obtained, which are classified by 8 point-group symmetries: 1 D(2h), 2 S4, 5 C4, 1 D2, 11 C2, 10 C(i), 1 C(s), and 60 C1. An energy level diagram of the structures reveals 14 bands that correspond to 14 unique two-colored graphs derived from the distributions of four free hydrogens of the cluster.

Ultrafast Electron Diffraction: Dynamical Structures on Complex Energy Landscapes

In this contribution, we report studies in ultrafast electron diffraction (UED), with the aim of exploring new directions. The main focus is on the determination of complex structures and their dynamics with spatial and temporal resolutions sufficient to give an atomic-scale picture for the evolution in chemical or biological change. We also provide the theoretical framework for UED, and compare the experimental findings of UED to those predicted by density functional and charge density calculations. Selected applications are given in order to highlight phenomena related to concepts such as bifurcation of trajectories in dynamics, far-from-equilibrium coherent structures, and conformational robustness in biological structures. For the former two cases, we consider chemical systems, and, for the latter, we examine proteins of 200 atoms (angiotensin I) or more.

Observation of the dynamical change in a water monolayer adsorbed on a ZnO surface

A combined scanning tunneling microscopy and density-functional theory (DFT) study shows a rich structure of water monolayers adsorbed on ZnO(1010) at room temperature. Most of the water is in a lowest-energy configuration where every second molecule is dissociated. It coexists with an energetically almost degenerate configuration consisting of a fully molecular water monolayer. Parts of the layer continuously switch back and forth between these two states. DFT calculations reveal that water molecules repeatedly associate and dissociate in this sustained dynamical process.

Structure, Energetics, and Dynamics of Water Adsorbed on the Muscovite (001) Surface: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations of liquid water adsorbed on the muscovite (001) surface provide a greatly increased, atomistically detailed understanding of surface-related effects on the spatial variation in the structural and orientational ordering, hydrogen bond (H-bond) organization, and local density of H2O molecules at this important model phyllosilicate surface. MD simulations at constant temperature and volume (statistical NVT ensemble) were performed for a series of model systems consisting of a two-layer muscovite slab (representing 8 crystallographic surface unit cells of the substrate) and 0 to 319 adsorbed H2O molecules, probing the atomistic structure and dynamics of surface aqueous films up to 3 nm in thickness. The results do not demonstrate a completely liquid-like behavior, as otherwise suggested from the interpretation of X-ray reflectivity measurements and earlier Monte Carlo simulations. Instead, a more structurally and orientationally restricted behavior of surface H2O molecules is observed, and this structural ordering extends to larger distances from the surface than previously expected. Even at the largest surface water coverage studied, over 20% of H2O molecules are associated with specific adsorption sites, and another 50% maintain strongly preferred orientations relative to the surface. This partially ordered structure is also different from the well-ordered 2-dimensional ice-like structure predicted by ab initio MD simulations for a system with a complete monolayer water coverage. However, consistent with these ab initio results, our simulations do predict that a full molecular monolayer surface water coverage represents a relatively stable surface structure in terms of the lowest diffusional mobility of H2O molecules along the surface. Calculated energies of water adsorption are in good agreement with available experimental data.

Ultrafast x-ray diffraction of transient molecular structures in solution

We report direct structural evidence of the bridged radical (CH2ICH2.) in a polar solution, obtained using time-resolved liquid-phase x-ray diffraction. This transient intermediate has long been hypothesized to explain stereo-chemical control in many association and/or dissociation reactions involving haloalkanes. Ultrashort optical pulses were used to dissociate an iodine atom from the haloethane molecule (C2H4I2) dissolved in methanol, and the diffraction of picosecond x-ray pulses from a synchrotron supports the following structural dynamics, with approximately 0.01 angstrom spatial resolution and approximately 100 picosecond time resolution: The loss of one iodine atom from C2H4I2 leads to the C-I-C triangular geometry of CH2ICH2.. This transient C2H4I then binds to an iodine atom to form a new species, the C2H4I-I isomer, which eventually decays into C2H4 + I2. Solvent dynamics were also extracted from the data, revealing a change in the solvent cage geometry, heating, and thermal expansion.

Atomic-scale dynamical structures of fatty acid bilayers observed by ultrafast electron crystallography

The structure and dynamics of a biological model bilayer are reported with atomic-scale resolution by using ultrafast electron crystallography. The bilayer was deposited as a Langmuir-Blodgett structure of arachidic (eicosanoic) fatty acids with the two chains containing 40 carbon atoms (approximately = 50 angstroms), on a hydrophobic substrate, the hydrogen terminated silicon(111) surface. We determined the structure of the 2D assembly, establishing the orientation of the chains and the subunit cell of the CH2 distances: a0 = 4.7 angstroms, b0 = 8.0 angstroms, and c0 = 2.54 angstroms. For structural dynamics, the diffraction frames were taken every 1 picosecond after a femtosecond temperature jump. The observed motions, with sub-angstroms resolution and monolayer sensitivity, clearly indicate the coherent anisotropic expansion of the bilayer solely along the aliphatic chains, followed by nonequilibrium contraction and restructuring at longer times. This motion is indicative of a nonlinear behavior among the anharmonically coupled bonds on the ultrashort time scale and energy redistribution and diffusion on the longer time scale. The ability to observe such atomic motions of complex structures and at interfaces is a significant leap forward for the determination of macromolecular dynamical structures by using ultrafast electron crystallography.

Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy

Electron microscopy is arguably the most powerful tool for spatial imaging of structures. As such, 2D and 3D microscopies provide static structures with subnanometer and increasingly with angstrom-scale spatial resolution. Here we report the development of 4D ultrafast electron microscopy, whose capability imparts another dimension to imaging in general and to dynamics in particular. We demonstrate its versatility by recording images and diffraction patterns of crystalline and amorphous materials and images of biological cells. The electron packets, which were generated with femtosecond laser pulses, have a de Broglie wavelength of 0.0335 angstroms at 120 keV and have as low as one electron per pulse. With such few particles, doses of few electrons per square ångstrom, and ultrafast temporal duration, the long sought after but hitherto unrealized quest for ultrafast electron microscopy has been realized. Ultrafast electron microscopy should have an impact on all areas of microscopy, including biological imaging.

Water’s size-dependent freezing to cubic ice

Water has been occasionally found to freeze to cubic ice. To investigate this occurrence thermodynamically, we use the known enthalpy and interfacial energy of hexagonal and cubic ices and calculate a critical radius r(c) of appromximately 15 nm for a water droplet and a critical thickness delta(c) of approximately 10 nm for water's flat film. Accordingly, water droplets smaller than 15 nm radius and films thinner than 10 nm would freeze to cubic ice in the 160-220 K range and bigger droplets and thicker films would freeze to hexagonal ice. This provides a thermodynamic basis for the occasionally found presence of cubic ice in the atmosphere, and explains why water's nanometer-sized clusters and water confined to nanometer-sized pores freeze to cubic ice. Conditions for cubic ice-hexagonal ice phase inversion have been discussed. Impurities in water and different extents of proton ordering in the crystallites of cubic and hexagonal ices would have a significant effect on r(c) and delta(c).

ULTRAFAST CHEMISTRY: Using Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy for Interrogation of Structural Dynamics

Time-resolved infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy elucidates molecular structure evolution during ultrafast chemical reactions. Following vibrational marker modes in real time provides direct insight into the structural dynamics, as is evidenced in studies on intramolecular hydrogen transfer, bimolecular proton transfer, electron transfer, hydrogen bonding during solvation dynamics, bond fission in organometallic compounds and heme proteins, cis-trans isomerization in retinal proteins, and transformations in photochromic switch pairs. Femtosecond IR spectroscopy monitors the site-specific interactions in hydrogen bonds. Conversion between excited electronic states can be followed for intramolecular electron transfer by inspection of the fingerprint IR- or Raman-active vibrations in conjunction with quantum chemical calculations. Excess internal vibrational energy, generated either by optical excitation or by internal conversion from the electronic excited state to the ground state, is observable through transient frequency shifts of IR-active vibrations and through nonequilibrium populations as deduced by Raman resonances.

Diffraction, crystallography and microscopy beyond three dimensions: structural dynamics in space and time

In this article we highlight recent developments of ultrafast electron diffraction and crystallography at Caltech. These developments have made it possible to resolve transient structures, both spatially (0.01 A) and temporally (picosecond and now femtosecond), in the gas phase and condensed media--surfaces, interfaces, and crystals--with wide-ranging applications. With the extension to ultrafast electron microscopy, discussed here and elsewhere, we present an overview of one major research area at our centre, the Laboratory for Molecular Sciences.

Dark structures in molecular radiationless transitions determined by ultrafast diffraction

The intermediate structures formed through radiationless transitions are termed "dark" because their existence is inferred indirectly from radiative transitions. We used ultrafast electron diffraction to directly determine these transient structures on both ground-state and excited-state potential energy surfaces of several aromatic molecules. The resolution in space and time (0.01 angstrom and 1 picosecond) enables differentiation between competing nonradiative pathways of bond breaking, vibronic coupling, and spin transition. For the systems reported here, the results reveal unexpected dynamical behavior. The observed ring opening of the structure depends on molecular substituents. This, together with the parallel bifurcation into physical and chemical channels, redefines structural dynamics of the energy landscape in radiationless processes.