Imaging valence electron rearrangement in a chemical reaction using hard X-ray scattering

Abstract

The work details the observation of valence electron rearrangement signatures in photoexcited ammonia using ultrafast hard X-ray scattering. The researchers used 9.8 keV time-resolved X-ray scattering (TRXS) on gas-phase deuterated ammonia after exciting it with a 200 nm pump pulse. They were able to observe changes in the scattering patterns that were sensitive to the rearrangement of a single photoexcited valence electron. This is a significant achievement because the signal from valence electrons is typically much weaker than that from core electrons. This study represents an important step forward in tracking the electronic structure of atoms and molecules during chemical reactions. The ability to directly image the spatial distribution of valence electrons provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving these reactions.

Alice Green

Faculty, University of Edinburgh, UK

Philipp Lenzen

Postdoctoral Researcher

Surjendu Bhattacharyya

Postdoctoral Researcher

Elio Champenois

Sr. Staff Systems Scientist, ASML

Yusong Liu

Associate Staff Scientist

Thomas Wolf

Staff Scientist

My research is focused on discovering structure-function relationships in ultrafast photochemistry to better understand and eventually control this type of reactions.