학술논문
Photoelectron Diffraction Imaging of a Molecular Breakup Using an X-Ray Free-Electron Laser
Document Type
article
Author
Kastirke, G; Schöffler, MS; Weller, M; Rist, J; Boll, R; Anders, N; Baumann, TM; Eckart, S; Erk, B; De Fanis, A; Fehre, K; Gatton, A; Grundmann, S; Grychtol, P; Hartung, A; Hofmann, M; Ilchen, M; Janke, C; Kircher, M; Kunitski, M; Li, X; Mazza, T; Melzer, N; Montano, J; Music, V; Nalin, G; Ovcharenko, Y; Pier, A; Rennhack, N; Rivas, DE; Dörner, R; Rolles, D; Rudenko, A; Schmidt, P; Siebert, J; Strenger, N; Trabert, D; Vela-Perez, I; Wagner, R; Weber, T; Williams, JB; Ziolkowski, P; Schmidt, LPH; Czasch, A; Trinter, F; Meyer, M; Ueda, K; Demekhin, PV; Jahnke, T
Source
Physical Review X. 10(2)
Subject
Language
Abstract
A central motivation for the development of x-ray free-electron lasers has been the prospect of time-resolved single-molecule imaging with atomic resolution. Here, we show that x-ray photoelectron diffraction - where a photoelectron emitted after x-ray absorption illuminates the molecular structure from within - can be used to image the increase of the internuclear distance during the x-ray-induced fragmentation of an O2 molecule. By measuring the molecular-frame photoelectron emission patterns for a two-photon sequential K-shell ionization in coincidence with the fragment ions, and by sorting the data as a function of the measured kinetic energy release, we can resolve the elongation of the molecular bond by approximately 1.2 a.u. within the duration of the x-ray pulse. The experiment paves the road toward time-resolved pump-probe photoelectron diffraction imaging at high-repetition-rate x-ray free-electron lasers.