Imaging Purely Nuclear Quantum Dynamics in Molecules by Combined X-ray and Electron Diffraction

Self-Heterodyne Diffractive Imaging of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics Monitored by Single-Electron Pulses

The direct imaging of time-evolving molecular charge densities on atomistic scale and at femtosecond resolution has long been an elusive task. In this theoretical study, we propose a self-heterodyne electron diffraction technique based on single electron pulses. The electron is split into two beams, one passes through the sample and its interference with the second beam produces a heterodyne diffraction signal that images the charge density. Application to probing the ultrafast electronic dynamics in Mg-phthalocyanine demonstrates its potential for imaging chemical dynamics.

Direct Probe of Conical Intersection Photochemistry by Time-Resolved X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism

The direct probing of photochemical dynamics by detecting the electronic coherence generated during passage through conical intersections is an intriguing challenge. The weak coherence signal and the difficulty in preparing purely excited wave packets that exclude coherence from other sources make it experimentally challenging. We propose to use time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism to probe the wave packet dynamics around the conical intersection. The magnetic field amplifies the relative strength of the electronic coherence signal compared to populations through the magnetic field response anisotropy. More importantly, since the excited state relaxation through conical intersections involves a change of parity, the magnetic coupling matches the symmetry of the response function with the electronic coherence, making the coherence signal only sensitive to the conical intersection induced coherence and excludes the pump pulse induced coherence between the ground state and excited state. In this theoretical study, we apply this technique to the photodissociation dynamics of a pyrrole molecule and demonstrate its capability of probing electronic coherence at a conical intersection as well as population transfer. We demonstrate that a magnetic field can be effectively used to extract novel information about electron and nuclear molecular dynamics.

Coherent x-ray spontaneous emission spectroscopy of conical intersections

Conical intersections are known to play a vital role in many photochemical processes. The breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation in the vicinity of a conical intersection causes exciting phenomena, such as the ultrafast radiationless decay of excited states. The passage of a molecule through a conical intersection creates a coherent superposition of electronic states via nonadiabatic couplings. Detecting this coherent superposition may serve as a direct probe of the conical intersection. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate the use of coherent spontaneous emission in samples with long-range order for probing the occurrence of a conical intersection in a molecule. Our simulations show that the spectrum contains clear signatures of the created coherent superposition of electronic states. We investigate the bandwidth requirements for the x-ray probes, which influence the observation of coherent superposition generated by the conical intersection.

Ultrafast X-Ray Probes of Elementary Molecular Events

Elementary events that determine photochemical outcomes and molecular functionalities happen on the femtosecond and subfemtosecond timescales. Among the most ubiquitous events are the nonadiabatic dynamics taking place at conical intersections. These facilitate ultrafast, nonradiative transitions between electronic states in molecules that can outcompete slower relaxation mechanisms such as fluorescence. The rise of ultrafast X-ray sources, which provide intense light pulses with ever-shorter durations and larger observation bandwidths, has fundamentally revolutionized our spectroscopic capabilities to detect conical intersections. Recent theoretical studies have demonstrated an entirely new signature emerging once a molecule traverses a conical intersection, giving detailed insights into the coupled nuclear and electronic motions that underlie, facilitate, and ultimately determine the ultrafast molecular dynamics. Following a summary of current sources and experiments, we survey these techniques and provide a unified overview of their capabilities. We discuss their potential to dramatically increase our understanding of ultrafast photochemistry.

Attosecond Monitoring of Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics by Transient X-ray Transmission Spectroscopy

Tracing the evolution of molecular coherences can provide a direct, unambiguous probe of nonadiabatic molecular processes, such as the passage through conical intersections of electronic states. Two techniques, attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) and Transient Redistribution of Ultrafast Electronic Coherences in Attosecond Raman Signals (TRUECARS), have been used or proposed for monitoring nonadiabatic molecular dynamics. Both techniques employ the transmission of a weak attosecond extreme-ultraviolet or X-ray probe to interrogate the molecule at controllable time delays with respect to an optical pump, thereby extracting dynamical information from transient spectral features. The connection between these techniques has not been firmly established yet. In this theoretical study, we provide a unified description of both transient transmission techniques, establishing their relationship as limits of the same pump-probe spectroscopy technique for different pulse parameter regimes. We demonstrate this by quantum dynamical simulations of thiophenol photodissociation and show how complementary coherence information can be revealed by the two techniques.

Novel Ultrafast Molecular Imaging Based on the Combination of X-ray and Electron Diffraction

Recent development of X-ray free-electron lasers and megaelectronvolt radio-frequency electron guns have made ultrafast X-ray and electron diffraction measurements possible, thereby capturing chemical dynamics with atomic-spatial and femtosecond-temporal resolutions. We present a unified formulation of standard homodyne-detected and heterodyne-detected signals for both techniques. Noting that X-rays scatter from molecular electrons while electrons scatter from both molecular electrons and nuclei, we show how the two diffraction signals can be combined to reveal novel chemical information that is unavailable by solely using each technique alone. By subtracting the homodyne-detected X-ray and electron diffraction signals, a mixed electronic-nuclear interference in electron diffraction can be identified with a self-heterodyne nature for the direct imaging of attosecond electron dynamics where the scattering off molecular nuclei serves as a local oscillator for the scattering off molecular electrons. By subtracting heterodyne-detected X-ray and electron diffraction, the purely nuclear charge density can be singled out.

From a one-mode to a multi-mode understanding of conical intersection mediated ultrafast organic photochemical reactions

This review discusses how ultrafast organic photochemical reactions are controlled by conical intersections, highlighting that decay to the ground-state at multiple points of the intersection space results in their multi-mode character.

Time-resolved X-ray and XUV based spectroscopic methods for nonadiabatic processes in photochemistry

The photochemistry of numerous molecular systems is influenced by conical intersections (CIs). These omnipresent nonadiabatic phenomena provide ultra-fast radiationless relaxation channels by creating degeneracies between electronic states and decide over the final photoproducts. In their presence, the Born-Oppenheimer approximation breaks down, and the timescales of the electron and nuclear dynamics become comparable. Due to the ultra-fast dynamics and the complex interplay between nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom, the direct experimental observation of nonadiabatic processes close to CIs remains challenging. In this article, we give a theoretical perspective on novel spectroscopic techniques capable of observing clear signatures of CIs. We discuss methods that are based on ultra-short laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regime, as their spectral and temporal resolution allow for resolving the ultra-fast dynamics near CIs.

Direct Monitoring of Conical Intersection Passage via Electronic Coherences in Twisted X-Ray Diffraction

Quantum coherences in electronic motions play a critical role in determining the pathways and outcomes of virtually all photophysical and photochemical molecular processes. However, the direct observation of electronic coherences in the vicinity of conical intersections remains a formidable challenge. We propose a novel time-resolved twisted x-ray diffraction technique that can directly monitor the electronic coherences created as the molecule passes through a conical intersection. We show that the contribution of electronic populations to this signal is canceled out when using twisted x-ray beams that carry a light orbital angular momentum, providing a direct measurement of transient electronic coherences in gas-phase molecules.