Polyatomic molecular structure retrieval using laser-induced electron diffraction

Abstract

Description

Citation: Pullen, M. G., Wolter, B., Le, A. T., Baudisch, M., Hemmer, M., Senftleben, A., . . . Biegert, J. (2015). Polyatomic molecular structure retrieval using laser-induced electron diffraction. 635(7). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/635/7/072051
Laser-induced electron diffraction is a developing dynamical imaging technique that is already able to probe molecular dynamics at few-femtosecond temporal resolutions and has the potential to reach the sub-femtosecond level. Here we provide the recipe for the extension of the technique to polyatomic molecules and we demonstrate the method by extracting the structure of aligned and anti-aligned acetylene (C2H2). We show that multiple bond lengths can be simultaneously imaged at high accuracy including elusive hydrogen containing bonds. Our results open the door to the investigation of larger complex molecules and the realization of a true molecular movie. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Keywords

Electron Diffraction, Hydrogen Bonds, Imaging Techniques, Molecular Dynamics, Complex Molecules, Femtoseconds

Citation