TITLE: Imaging Ultrafast Molecular Reactions with Light: From Attosecond and Strong-Field Physics to Femtochemistry
AUTHOR: Artem Rudenko, Cortelyou-Rust Professor & JR Macdonald Lab Director, Kansas State University
INVITED BY: Antonio Picón
WHEN: May, 19 - 12PM
WHERE: Salón de Actos, ICMM-CSIC
ABSTRACT: Understanding the motion of individual atoms and the evolving charge distribution in molecular systems undergoing ultrafast structural changes is one of the central goals in molecular science, photochemistry, photobiology, and in certain areas of materials science. Ultrashort light pulses provide unique experimental tools for studying the rapidly evolving structure of matter, and of individual molecules in particular. Recent advances in ultrafast laser and X-ray technology in combination with sophisticated imaging techniques for photons and charged particles have enabled the ultrafast science community to map in space and time the evolution of some exemplary chemical transformations and have raised many questions about the interplay between electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom which, in many cases, determines the outcome of these reactions.
In this talk, I will discuss several recent studies illustrating the path toward imaging electronic and nuclear motion in ultrafast photochemical reactions using multi-coincidence charged-particle detection as a central experimental tool. Specific examples will include imaging photodissociation and structural rearrangement reactions, laser-induced vibrational wave packets as well as femtosecond and sub-femtosecond charge transfer and charge migration processes.
