Open AccessUltrafast isolated molecule imaging without crystallization
Author(s) -
Zhuoran Ma,
Xu Zou,
Lingrong Zhao,
Fengfeng Qi,
Tao Jiang,
Ping Zhu,
Dao Xiang,
Jie Zhang
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2122793119
Subject(s) - femtosecond , diffraction , electron diffraction , ultrafast electron diffraction , molecule , resolution (logic) , ultrashort pulse , laser , optics , materials science , chemistry , crystallography , molecular physics , physics , computer science , organic chemistry , artificial intelligence
Significance Excitation of molecules by an ultrashort laser pulse creates rotational wave packets that lead to transient alignment of the molecules along the laser polarization direction. Here, we show that a train of ultrashort laser pulses can be used to enhance the degree of alignment to a high level such that the diffraction from precisely timed ultrashort electron beams may be used to reconstruct the structure of the isolated molecules with atomic resolution through a coherent diffraction imaging technique. Our results mark a great step toward imaging noncrystallized molecules with atomic resolution and pave the way for creation of three-dimensional “molecular movies” at the femtosecond time scale and atomic spatial scale.