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.