Open AccessDeconvoluting ultrafast structural dynamics: temporal resolution beyond the pulse length of synchrotron radiation
Author(s) -
Neutze Richard,
Wouts Remco
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of synchrotron radiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 99
ISSN - 1600-5775
DOI - 10.1107/s0909049599012352
Subject(s) - synchrotron , ultrashort pulse , picosecond , femtosecond , synchrotron radiation , temporal resolution , resolution (logic) , optics , physics , laser , materials science , computer science , artificial intelligence
100 picosecond X‐ray snapshots visualizing the structural dynamics of macromolecular systems are now routinely available at synchrotron sources. A wealth of fundamental processes in photochemistry, condensed matter physics and biology, however, occur on considerably faster time scales. Standard experimental protocols at synchrotron sources cannot provide structural information with faster temporal resolution as these are limited by the duration of the electron bunch within the synchrotron ring. By walking the timing of femtosecond laser photolysis through a (much longer) X‐ray pulse in steps of a few picoseconds, structural information on ultrafast dynamics may be retrieved from a set of X‐ray scattering images, initially through deconvolution and subsequently through refinement. This experimental protocol promises immediate improvements in the temporal resolution available at synchrotron sources, facilitating the study of a number of rapid complex photochemical processes. Combined with techniques which reshape the X‐ray probe pulse, the accessible temporal domain could further be extended to near‐picosecond resolution.