Laser-induced electron diffraction of the ultrafast umbrella motion in ammonia

Belsa B, Amini K, Liu X, Sanchez A, Steinle T, Steinmetzer J, Le AT, Moshammer R, Pfeifer T, Ullrich J, Moszynski R, Lin CD, Gräfe S, Biegert J (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS

Book Volume: 8

Article Number: 014301

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1063/4.0000046

Abstract

Visualizing molecular transformations in real-time requires a structural retrieval method with Ångström spatial and femtosecond temporal atomic resolution. Imaging of hydrogen-containing molecules additionally requires an imaging method sensitive to the atomic positions of hydrogen nuclei, with most methods possessing relatively low sensitivity to hydrogen scattering. Laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED) is a table-top technique that can image ultrafast structural changes of gas-phase polyatomic molecules with sub-Ångström and femtosecond spatiotemporal resolution together with relatively high sensitivity to hydrogen scattering. Here, we image the umbrella motion of an isolated ammonia molecule (NH3) following its strong-field ionization. Upon ionization of a neutral ammonia molecule, the ammonia cation (NH3+) undergoes an ultrafast geometrical transformation from a pyramidal (φ HNH = 107 °) to planar (φ HNH = 120 °) structure in approximately 8 femtoseconds. Using LIED, we retrieve a near-planar (φ HNH = 117 ± 5 °) field-dressed NH3+ molecular structure 7.8 - 9.8 femtoseconds after ionization. Our measured field-dressed NH3+ structure is in excellent agreement with our calculated equilibrium field-dressed structure using quantum chemical ab initio calculations.

Involved external institutions

Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ES Spain (ES) Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena DE Germany (DE) Missouri University of Science and Technology US United States (USA) (US) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics DE Germany (DE) University of Warsaw / Uniwersytet Warszawski PL Poland (PL) Kansas State University US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Belsa, B., Amini, K., Liu, X., Sanchez, A., Steinle, T., Steinmetzer, J.,... Biegert, J. (2021). Laser-induced electron diffraction of the ultrafast umbrella motion in ammonia. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/4.0000046

MLA:

Belsa, Blanca, et al. "Laser-induced electron diffraction of the ultrafast umbrella motion in ammonia." STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS 8.1 (2021).

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