Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In our work, we demonstrate that X-ray photons can initiate a “molecular catapult” effect, leading to the dissociation of chemical bonds and the formation of heavy fragments within just a few femtoseconds. We reconstruct the momenta of fragments from a three-body dissociation in bromochloromethane using the ion pair average (IPA) reference frame, demonstrating how light atomic groups, such as alkylene and alkanylene, can govern nuclear dynamics during the dissociation process, akin to projectiles released by a catapult. Supported by ab initio calculations, this work highlights the crucial role of low-reduced-mass vibrational modes in driving ultrafast chemical processes.
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique - Matière et Rayonnement, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4404589645