Imaging the Renner-Teller effect using laser-induced electron diffraction
Abstract
Structural information on electronically excited neutral molecules can be indirectly retrieved, largely through pump-probe and rotational spectroscopy measurements with the aid of calculations. Here, we demonstrate the direct structural retrieval of neutral carbonyl disulfide (CS) in the BB excited electronic state using laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED). We unambiguously identify the ultrafast symmetric stretching and bending of the field-dressed neutral CS molecule with combined picometer and attosecond resolution using intrapulse pump-probe excitation and measurement. We invoke the Renner-Teller effect to populate the BB excited state in neutral CS, leading to bending and stretching of the molecule. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of LIED in retrieving the geometric structure of CS, which is known to appear as a two-center scatterer.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1805.06793,
title = {Imaging the Renner-Teller effect using laser-induced electron diffraction},
author = {Kasra Amini and Michele Sclafani and Tobias Steinle and Anh-Thu Le and Aurelien Sanchez and Carolin Müller and Johannes Steinmetzer and Lun Yue and José Ramón Martínez Saavedra and Michäel Hemmer and Maciej Lewenstein and Robert Moshammer and Thomas Pfeifer and Michael G. Pullen and Joachim Ullrich and Benjamin Wolter and Robert Moszynski and F. Javier García de Abajo and C. D. Lin and Stefanie Gräfe and Jens Biegert},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.06793},
year = {2022}
}