Reckenthaeler P, Centurion M, Fuss W, Trushin SA, Krausz F, Fill EE. Time-resolved electron diffraction from selectively aligned molecules.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2009;
102:213001. [PMID:
19519100 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.102.213001]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2009] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
We experimentally demonstrate ultrafast electron diffraction from transiently aligned molecules in the absence of external (aligning) fields. A sample of aligned molecules is generated through photodissociation with femtosecond laser pulses, and the diffraction pattern is captured by probing the sample with picosecond electron pulses shortly after dissociation-before molecular rotation causes the alignment to vanish. In our experiments the alignment decays with a time constant of 2.6+/-1.2 ps.
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