New laser technique reveals electron behavior in molecules with femtosecond precision
Scientists have developed a spectroscopy method that watches electrons move inside molecules in real time, capturing dynamics that standard lab techniques miss. The advance could accelerate development of new semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and materials by letting researchers understand molecular behavior at unprecedented speed and detail.
Originaltitel: Multidimensional high-harmonic echo spectroscopy: Resolving coherent electron dynamics in the EUV regime
<p>We theoretically propose a multidimensional high-harmonic echo spectroscopy technique which utilizes strong optical fields to resolve coherent electron dynamics spanning an energy range of multiple electronvolts. Using our recently developed semi-perturbative approach, we can describe the coherent valence electron dynamics driven by a sequence of phase-matched and well-separated short few-cycle strong infrared laser pulses. The recombination of tunnel-ionized electrons by each pulse coherently populates the valence states of a molecule, which allows for a direct observation of its dynamics via the high harmonic echo signal. The broad bandwidth of the effective dipole between valence states originated from the strong-field excitation results in nontrivial ultra-delayed partial rephasing echo, which is not observed in standard two-dimensional optical spectroscopic techniques in a two-level molecular systems. We demonstrate the results of simulations for the anionic molecular system and show that the ultrafast valence electron dynamics can be well captured with femtosecond resolution. </p>