Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Observing changes in molecular structure requires atomic-scale Ångstrom and femtosecond spatio-temporal resolution. We use the Fourier transform (FT) variant of laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED), FT-LIED, to directly retrieve the molecular structure of H2O+ with picometer and femtosecond resolution without a priori knowledge of the molecular structure nor the use of retrieval algorithms or ab initio calculations. We identify a symmetrically stretched H2O+ field-dressed structure that is most likely in the ground electronic state. We subsequently study the nuclear response of an isolated water molecule to an external laser field at four different field strengths. We show that upon increasing the laser field strength from 2.5 to 3.8 V/Å, the O–H bond is further stretched and the molecule slightly bends. The observed ultrafast structural changes lead to an increase in the dipole moment of water and, in turn, a stronger dipole interaction between the nuclear framework of the molecule and the intense laser field. Our results provide important insights into the coupling of the nuclear framework to a laser field as the molecular geometry of H2O+ is altered in the presence of an external field.
Source: The Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI: 10.1063/1.5100520
Authors: Xinyao Liu, Kasra Amini, Tobias Steinle, Aurelien Sanchez, Moniruzzaman Shaikh, Blanca Belsa, Johannes Steinmetzer, Anh-Thu Le, Robert Moshammer, Thomas Pfeifer, Joachim Ullrich, Robert Moszynski, C. D. Lin, Stefanie Gräfe, Jens Biegert
Institutions: Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, University of Warsaw, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Structural transformations and phase transitions in real-time, G1233564024, G1545974424, G1874999417, G21277220, G222768804, G2265950340, G2414981998, G2867227845, G4148710496, G4588137139, G5183103182, G5199851136, G6256662939, G6335398897, G6956531571, G6983877571, ATOMIC PHYSICS WITH HIGHLY CHARGED IONS, G745058283, G8160980590, G8539426688, STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF ATOMS, IONS, MOLECULES AND SURFACES
OpenAlex ID: W2959698701