Imaging CF3I conical intersection and photodissociation dynamics with ultrafast electron diffraction

The measurement of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics with X-rays

In this theme issue, leading researchers discuss recent work on the measurement of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics in matter using a new generation of short duration X-ray photon sources. These photon sources, based upon high harmonic generation from lasers and X-ray free-electron lasers, look set to have a high impact on ultrafast science. This article is part of the theme issue 'Measurement of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics with X-rays'.

Terahertz Oscilloscope for Recording Time Information of Ultrashort Electron Beams

We propose and demonstrate a terahertz (THz) oscilloscope for recording time information of an ultrashort electron beam. By injecting a laser-driven THz pulse with circular polarization into a dielectric tube, the electron beam is swept helically such that the time information is uniformly encoded into the angular distribution that allows one to characterize both the temporal profile and timing jitter of an electron beam. The dynamic range of the measurement in such a configuration is significantly increased compared to deflection with a linearly polarized THz pulse. With this THz oscilloscope, nearly 50-fold longitudinal compression of a relativistic electron beam to about 15 fs (rms) is directly visualized with its arrival time determined with 3 fs accuracy. This technique bridges the gap between streaking of photoelectrons with optical lasers and deflection of relativistic electron beams with radio-frequency deflectors, and should have wide applications in many ultrashort electron-beam-based facilities.

Imaging the Renner-Teller effect using laser-induced electron diffraction

Structural information on electronically excited neutral molecules can be indirectly retrieved, largely through pump-probe and rotational spectroscopy measurements with the aid of calculations. Here, we demonstrate the direct structural retrieval of neutral carbonyl disulfide (CS₂) in the [Formula: see text] excited electronic state using laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED). We unambiguously identify the ultrafast symmetric stretching and bending of the field-dressed neutral CS₂ molecule with combined picometer and attosecond resolution using intrapulse pump-probe excitation and measurement. We invoke the Renner-Teller effect to populate the [Formula: see text] excited state in neutral CS₂, leading to bending and stretching of the molecule. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of LIED in retrieving the geometric structure of CS₂, which is known to appear as a two-center scatterer.

Recent Advances in Ultrafast Structural Techniques

A review that summarizes the most recent technological developments in the field of ultrafast structural dynamics with focus on the use of ultrashort X-ray and electron pulses follows. Atomistic views of chemical processes and phase transformations have long been the exclusive domain of computer simulators. The advent of femtosecond (fs) hard X-ray and fs-electron diffraction techniques made it possible to bring such a level of scrutiny to the experimental area. The following review article provides a summary of the main ultrafast techniques that enabled the generation of atomically resolved movies utilizing ultrashort X-ray and electron pulses. Recent advances are discussed with emphasis on synchrotron-based methods, tabletop fs-X-ray plasma sources, ultrabright fs-electron diffractometers, and timing techniques developed to further improve the temporal resolution and fully exploit the use of intense and ultrashort X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) pulses.

Comparison of ultrafast intense-field photodynamics in aniline and nitrobenzene: stability under amino and nitro substitution

We report on the photoionization and photofragmentation of aniline (C₆H₅NH₂) and nitrobenzene (C₆H₅NO₂) under single-molecule conditions in the focus of 50 fs, 800 nm laser pulses. Ion mass spectra are recorded as a function of intensity ranging from 6 × 10¹² to 3 × 10¹⁴ W cm^-2. Ion yields are measured in the absence of the focal volume effect and without the need for additional deconvolution of data. We observe evidence of resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization in aniline, in agreement with current literature. Phenyl-based ion fragments, singly-charged parent ions, and dissociative rearrangement processes are observed for both molecules. However, fragmentation in aniline is heavily suppressed in favor of parent ionization while the reverse is true for nitrobenzene, and multiply-charged parent ions are present in aniline and absent in nitrobenzene. We discuss the implications of these and other results as they relate to molecular stability against intense-field ionization and fragmentation, specifically with regards to the opposing behavior of the substituted amino and nitro functional groups.

The Potential of EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB for Radiation Based Techniques

A proposal for building a Free Electron Laser, EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB, at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, is at present under consideration. This FEL facility will provide a unique combination of a high brightness GeV-range electron beam generated in a X-band RF linac, a 0.5 PW-class laser system and the first FEL source driven by a plasma accelerator. The FEL will produce ultra-bright pulses, with up to 10 12 photons/pulse, femtosecond timescale and wavelength down to 3 nm, which lies in the so called “water window”. The experimental activity will be focused on the realization of a plasma driven short wavelength FEL able to provide high-quality photons for a user beamline. In this paper, we describe the main classes of experiments that will be performed at the facility, including coherent diffraction imaging, soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering and photofragmentation measurements. These techniques will allow studying a variety of samples, both biological and inorganic, providing information about their structure and dynamical behavior. In this context, the possibility of inducing changes in samples via pump pulses leading to the stimulation of chemical reactions or the generation of coherent excitations would tremendously benefit from pulses in the soft X-ray region. High power synchronized optical lasers and a TeraHertz radiation source will indeed be made available for THz and pump–probe experiments and a split-and-delay station will allow performing XUV-XUV pump–probe experiments.

Ab Initio Computation of Rotationally-Averaged Pump-Probe X-ray and Electron Diffraction Signals

We develop a new algorithm for the computation of the rotationally averaged elastic molecular diffraction signal for the cases of perpendicular or parallel pump-probe geometries. The algorithm first collocates the charge density from an arbitrary ab initio wave function onto a Becke quadrature grid [A. Becke, J. Chem. Phys. 1988 , 88 , 2457 ], providing a high-fidelity multiresolution representation of the charge density. A double sum is then performed over the Becke grid points, and the interaction between points computed using the scattering kernels of Williamson and Zewail [J. C. Williamson and A. H. Zewail, J. Phys. Chem. 1994 , 98 , 2766 ]. These kernels analytically average over the molecular orientations with the cos² γ selection factor appropriate for one-photon dipole absorption in a perpendicular pump-probe geometry. We show that the method is converged with small grids containing <500 points/atom. We implement the algorithm on a GPU for increased efficiency and emonstrate the algorithm for molecules with up to a few dozen atoms. We explore the accuracy of the independent atom model (IAM) by comparison with our new and more accurate method. We also investigate the possibility of detecting signatures of electronic transitions in polyatomic pump-probe diffraction experiments.

The effect of Coulomb repulsion on the space-time resolution limits for ultrafast electron diffraction

The development of electron sources capable of temporal resolution on the order of 1 ps or less raises a number of questions associated with the estimation of the physical meaning and accuracy of the dynamic parameters based on the analysis of time-dependent scattering intensity. The use of low brightness ultrashort pulses with few electrons leads to the necessity for increasing the total exposure time and lengthening the time of data acquisition, with attendant problems with the limited sample. The sample restrictions can be mitigated by increasing the charge per pulse, i.e., by going to high brightness sources. Increasing in the number of electrons, however, is limited by the Coulomb repulsion between them, which leads on one hand to distortion of the diffraction pattern and on the other hand to an increase in the duration of the pulse. An analytical technique for estimating the deformation of the diffraction pattern caused by the Coulomb repulsion of the electrons in electron bunches with duration of less than 10 ps and the influence of this effect on the accuracy of determination of the interatomic distances is developed for the non-relativistic and relativistic regimes for electron energies.

From Fundamental Theories to Quantum Coherences in Electron Transfer

Photoinduced electron transfer (ET) is a cornerstone of energy transduction from light to chemistry. The past decade has seen tremendous advances in the possible role of quantum coherent effects in the light-initiated energy and ET processes in chemical, biological, and materials systems. The prevalence of such coherence effects holds a promise to increase the efficiency and robustness of transport even in the face of energetic or structural disorder. A primary motive of this Perspective is to work out how to think about "coherence" in ET reactions. We will discuss how the interplay of basic parameters governing ET reactions-like electronic coupling, interactions with the environment, and intramolecular high-frequency quantum vibrations-impact coherences. This includes revisiting the insights from the seminal work on the theory of ET and time-resolved measurements on coherent dynamics to explore the role of coherences in ET reactions. We conclude by suggesting that in addition to optical spectroscopies, validating the functional role of coherences would require simultaneous mapping of correlated electron motion and atomically resolved nuclear structure.

Photodissociation dynamics of CH3I probed via multiphoton ionisation photoelectron spectroscopy

Femtosecond photoelectron spectroscopy measurements of dissociation CH₃I show complex dynamics in the high energy region of absorption band A.

Bond Dissociation Triggering Molecular Disorder in Amorphous H2O

We developed a system to deposit H₂O molecules onto ultrathin silicon nitride substrates in situ using time-resolved transmission electron diffraction apparatus and performed ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction measurements in the noncrystalline (amorphous) H₂O under near-ultraviolet photoexcitation. The observed dynamics directly represent O-H bond dissociation via multiphoton absorption and charge transfer, which trigger ionization and intermolecular disorder in the amorphous H₂O. Our results illustrate the intriguing nature of light-matter and matter-matter interactions in H₂O molecules.

Parent bending effects on nonadiabatic transition dynamics: Isotopomer-resolved imaging of photodissociation of CF3Br at two source temperatures

Nonadiabatic transition between electronic states plays a critical role in the photodissociation of the CX₃Y (X = H and F; Y = Cl, Br, and I) system, and the transition probability was considered to be closely related to the X-C-Y bending motion. Hereby the effect of F-C-Br bending vibration on the nonadiabatic transition dynamics is studied by time-sliced ion velocity imaging of Br(²P_1/2,3/2) isotopomers produced from the photodissociation of title molecules at two source temperatures, 298 K and 473 K, respectively. At the photolysis wavelength 234 nm, the anisotropy parameter (β) of the Br(²P_3/2) products decreases from 1.3 at 298 K to 0.9 at 473 K, while the β of Br(²P_1/2) remains at almost 2 at two temperatures, indicating the significant effect of bending excitation on the ground channel. Two nonadiabatic dissociation pathways are suggested in the Br(²P_3/2) channel. One of them is the parallel excitation from the ground state to the ³ Q ₀ state in C_3V symmetry, and then transition to the ¹ Q ₁ state via conical intersection, and the other is the perpendicular excitation to the 3A' state in C_s symmetry and then decomposition along this state in the presence of the avoided crossing between 3A' and 4A' states. Closely related to the F-C-Br bending vibration of CF₃Br is the latter transition.

Electron Ghost Imaging

In this Letter we report a demonstration of electron ghost imaging. A digital micromirror device directly modulates the photocathode drive laser to control the transverse distribution of a relativistic electron beam incident on a sample. Correlating the structured illumination pattern to the total sample transmission then retrieves the target image, avoiding the need for a pixelated detector. In our example, we use a compressed sensing framework to improve the reconstruction quality and reduce the number of shots compared to raster scanning a small beam across the target. Compressed electron ghost imaging can reduce both acquisition time and sample damage in experiments for which spatially resolved detectors are unavailable (e.g., spectroscopy) or in which the experimental architecture precludes full frame direct imaging.