Imaging the Renner–Teller effect using laser-induced electron diffraction

Imaging ultrafast dynamics of molecules with laser-induced electron diffraction.

We introduce a laser-induced electron diffraction method (LIED) for imaging ultrafast dynamics of small molecules with femtosecond mid-infrared lasers. When molecules are placed in an intense laser field, both low- and high-energy photoelectrons are generated. According to quantitative rescattering (QRS) theory, high-energy electrons are produced by a rescattering process where electrons born a...

Laser induced electron diffraction: a tool for molecular orbital imaging

We explore the laser-induced ionization dynamics of N2 and CO2 molecules subjected to a fewcycle, linearly polarized, 800 nm laser pulse using effective two-dimensional single active electron time-dependent quantum simulations. We show that the electron recollision process taking place after an initial tunnel ionization stage results in quantum interference patterns in the energy resolved photo...

Imaging an aligned polyatomic molecule with laser-induced electron diffraction

Laser-induced electron diffraction is an evolving tabletop method that aims to image ultrafast structural changes in gas-phase polyatomic molecules with sub-Ångström spatial and femtosecond temporal resolutions. Here we demonstrate the retrieval of multiple bond lengths from a polyatomic molecule by simultaneously measuring the C-C and C-H bond lengths in aligned acetylene. Our approach takes t...

Ultrafast Molecular Imaging by Laser Induced Electron Diffraction

Laser-induced electron tunneling and diffraction.

Molecular structure is usually determined by measuring the diffraction pattern the molecule impresses on x-rays or electrons. We used a laser field to extract electrons from the molecule itself, accelerate them, and in some cases force them to recollide with and diffract from the parent ion, all within a fraction of a laser period. Here, we show that the momentum distribution of the extracted e...