Probing Proton Dynamics in Molecules on an Attosecond Time Scale
Top Cited Papers
- 21 April 2006
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 312 (5772), 424-427
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1123904
Abstract
We demonstrate a technique that uses high-order harmonic generation in molecules to probe nuclear dynamics and structural rearrangement on a subfemtosecond time scale. The chirped nature of the electron wavepacket produced by laser ionization in a strong field gives rise to a similar chirp in the photons emitted upon electron-ion recombination. Use of this chirp in the emitted light allows information about nuclear dynamics to be gained with 100-attosecond temporal resolution, from excitation by an 8-femtosecond pulse, in a single laser shot. Measurements on molecular hydrogen and deuterium agreed well with calculations of ultrafast nuclear dynamics in the H 2 + molecule, confirming the validity of the method. We then measured harmonic spectra from CH 4 and CD 4 to demonstrate a few-femtosecond time scale for the onset of proton rearrangement in methane upon ionization.Keywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Tomographic imaging of molecular orbitalsNature, 2004
- Attosecond Synchronization of High-Harmonic Soft X-raysScience, 2003
- Probing molecular dynamics with attosecond resolution using correlated wave packet pairsNature, 2003
- Sub-laser-cycle electron pulses for probing molecular dynamicsNature, 2002
- The dissociative photoionization of methane in the VUVJournal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 1999
- Deflection of Neutral Molecules using the Nonresonant Dipole ForcePhysical Review Letters, 1997
- High harmonic generation in atomic and diatomic molecular gases using intense picosecond laser pulses-a comparisonJournal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 1994
- Plasma perspective on strong field multiphoton ionizationPhysical Review Letters, 1993
- Direct Determination of the Stereochemical Structure of CPhysical Review Letters, 1986
- Experimental evidence for a C2v (2B1) ground-state structure of the methane cation radical: ESR and ab initio CI investigations of methane cation radicals (CH4+ and CD2H2+) in neon matrixes at 4 KJournal of the American Chemical Society, 1984