Ultrafast Imaging of Isolated Molecules with Electron Diffraction

Speaker:  Martin Centurion, UNL

Program Description:
The conversion of light into mechanical and chemical energy, at the level of single molecules, drives many processes in nature such as vision and photosynthesis, and is important for solar energy conversion and storage applications. These changes take place at the atomic level, on femtosecond timescales. We use ultrafast electron diffraction (UED), which probes changes in molecular structure with atomic (sub-Angstrom) resolution, to observe the reaction dynamics. In this presentation we will focus on two recent applications that push the limits of UED measurements: a proton transfer reaction in o-nitrophenol involving subtle and complex structural motions and strong-field ionization and fragmentation of toluene.