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

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Gabalski, Ian, Green, Alice, Lenzen, Philipp, Allum, Felix, Bain, Matthew, Bhattacharyya, Surjendu, Britton, Mathew A., Champenois, Elio G., Cheng, Xinxin, Cryan, James P., Driver, Taran, Forbes, Ruaridh, Garratt, Douglas, Ghrist, Aaron M., Graßl, Martin, Kling, Matthias F., Larsen, Kirk A., Liang, Mengning, Lin, Ming-Fu, Liu, Yusong, Minitti, Michael P., Nelson, Silke, Robinson, Joseph S., Bucksbaum, Philip H., Wolf, Thomas J. A., List, Nanna H., Glownia, James M.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Gabalski, Ian
Green, Alice
Lenzen, Philipp
Allum, Felix
Bain, Matthew
Bhattacharyya, Surjendu
Britton, Mathew A.
Champenois, Elio G.
Cheng, Xinxin
Cryan, James P.
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Garratt, Douglas
Ghrist, Aaron M.
Graßl, Martin
Kling, Matthias F.
Larsen, Kirk A.
Liang, Mengning
Lin, Ming-Fu
Liu, Yusong
Minitti, Michael P.
Nelson, Silke
Robinson, Joseph S.
Bucksbaum, Philip H.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
List, Nanna H.
Glownia, James M.
author_facet Gabalski, Ian
Green, Alice
Lenzen, Philipp
Allum, Felix
Bain, Matthew
Bhattacharyya, Surjendu
Britton, Mathew A.
Champenois, Elio G.
Cheng, Xinxin
Cryan, James P.
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Garratt, Douglas
Ghrist, Aaron M.
Graßl, Martin
Kling, Matthias F.
Larsen, Kirk A.
Liang, Mengning
Lin, Ming-Fu
Liu, Yusong
Minitti, Michael P.
Nelson, Silke
Robinson, Joseph S.
Bucksbaum, Philip H.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
List, Nanna H.
Glownia, James M.
contents We have observed the signatures of valence electron rearrangement in photoexcited ammonia using ultrafast hard X-ray scattering. Time-resolved X-ray scattering is a powerful tool for imaging structural dynamics in molecules because of the strong scattering from the core electrons localized near each nucleus. Such core-electron contributions generally dominate the differential scattering signal, masking any signatures of rearrangement in the chemically important valence electrons. Ammonia represents an exception to the typically high core-to-valence electron ratio. We measured 9.8 keV X-ray scattering from gas-phase deuterated ammonia following photoexcitation via a 200 nm pump pulse to the 3s Rydberg state. We observed changes in the recorded scattering patterns due to the initial photoexcitation and subsequent deuterium dissociation. Ab initio calculations confirm that the observed signal is sensitive to the rearrangement of the single photoexcited valence electron as well as the interplay between adiabatic and nonadiabatic dissociation channels. The use of ultrafast hard X-ray scattering to image the structural rearrangement of single valence electrons constitutes an important advance in tracking valence electronic structure in photoexcited atoms and molecules.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_19172
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Imaging valence electron rearrangement in a chemical reaction using hard X-ray scattering
Gabalski, Ian
Green, Alice
Lenzen, Philipp
Allum, Felix
Bain, Matthew
Bhattacharyya, Surjendu
Britton, Mathew A.
Champenois, Elio G.
Cheng, Xinxin
Cryan, James P.
Driver, Taran
Forbes, Ruaridh
Garratt, Douglas
Ghrist, Aaron M.
Graßl, Martin
Kling, Matthias F.
Larsen, Kirk A.
Liang, Mengning
Lin, Ming-Fu
Liu, Yusong
Minitti, Michael P.
Nelson, Silke
Robinson, Joseph S.
Bucksbaum, Philip H.
Wolf, Thomas J. A.
List, Nanna H.
Glownia, James M.
Chemical Physics
Atomic Physics
Optics
We have observed the signatures of valence electron rearrangement in photoexcited ammonia using ultrafast hard X-ray scattering. Time-resolved X-ray scattering is a powerful tool for imaging structural dynamics in molecules because of the strong scattering from the core electrons localized near each nucleus. Such core-electron contributions generally dominate the differential scattering signal, masking any signatures of rearrangement in the chemically important valence electrons. Ammonia represents an exception to the typically high core-to-valence electron ratio. We measured 9.8 keV X-ray scattering from gas-phase deuterated ammonia following photoexcitation via a 200 nm pump pulse to the 3s Rydberg state. We observed changes in the recorded scattering patterns due to the initial photoexcitation and subsequent deuterium dissociation. Ab initio calculations confirm that the observed signal is sensitive to the rearrangement of the single photoexcited valence electron as well as the interplay between adiabatic and nonadiabatic dissociation channels. The use of ultrafast hard X-ray scattering to image the structural rearrangement of single valence electrons constitutes an important advance in tracking valence electronic structure in photoexcited atoms and molecules.
title Imaging valence electron rearrangement in a chemical reaction using hard X-ray scattering
topic Chemical Physics
Atomic Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.19172