Diffractive Imaging of Coherent Nuclear Motion in Isolated Molecules

Authors

Jie Yang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Markus Guehr, Potsdam University, PotsdamFollow
Xiaozhe Shen, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Renkai Li, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Theodore Vecchione, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Ryan Coffee, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Jeff Corbett, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Alan Fry, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory,Follow
Nick Hartmann, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Carsten Hast, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Kareem Hegazy, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Keith Jobe, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Igor Makasyuk, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Joseph Robinson, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Matthew S. Robinson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Sharon Vetter, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Stephen Weathersby, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Charles Yoneda, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
Xijie Wang, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CAFollow
Martin Centurion, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

10-7-2016

Citation

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 117, 153002 (2016)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.153002

Comments

© 2016 American Physical Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Observing the motion of the nuclear wave packets during a molecular reaction, in both space and time, is crucial for understanding and controlling the outcome of photoinduced chemical reactions. We have imaged the motion of a vibrational wave packet in isolated iodine molecules using ultrafast electron diffraction with relativistic electrons. The time-varying interatomic distance was measured with a precision 0.07 Å and temporal resolution of 230 fs full width at half maximum. The method is not only sensitive to the position but also the shape of the nuclear wave packet.