Filming enhanced ionization in an ultrafast triatomic slingshot

Andrew J Howard; Mathew Britton; Zachary L Streeter; Chuan Cheng; Ruaridh Forbes; Joshua L Reynolds; Felix Allum; Gregory A McCracken; Ian Gabalski; Robert R Lucchese; C William McCurdy; Thomas Weinacht; Philip H Bucksbaum

doi:10.1038/s42004-023-00882-w

Filming enhanced ionization in an ultrafast triatomic slingshot

Commun Chem. 2023 Apr 27;6(1):81. doi: 10.1038/s42004-023-00882-w.

Authors

Andrew J Howard^{1

2}, Mathew Britton^{3

4}, Zachary L Streeter^{5

6}, Chuan Cheng⁷, Ruaridh Forbes^{3

8}, Joshua L Reynolds⁹, Felix Allum^{3

8}, Gregory A McCracken^{9

3}, Ian Gabalski^{9

3}, Robert R Lucchese⁶, C William McCurdy^{5

6}, Thomas Weinacht⁷, Philip H Bucksbaum^{10

11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. [email protected].
² Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. [email protected].
³ Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
⁶ Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA.
⁸ Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
⁹ Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. [email protected].
¹¹ Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. [email protected].
¹² Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. [email protected].
¹³ Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Filming atomic motion within molecules is an active pursuit of molecular physics and quantum chemistry. A promising method is laser-induced Coulomb Explosion Imaging (CEI) where a laser pulse rapidly ionizes many electrons from a molecule, causing the remaining ions to undergo Coulomb repulsion. The ion momenta are used to reconstruct the molecular geometry which is tracked over time (i.e., filmed) by ionizing at an adjustable delay with respect to the start of interatomic motion. Results are distorted, however, by ultrafast motion during the ionizing pulse. We studied this effect in water and filmed the rapid "slingshot" motion that enhances ionization and distorts CEI results. Our investigation uncovered both the geometry and mechanism of the enhancement which may inform CEI experiments in many other polyatomic molecules.

Abstract

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