- Transient X-ray fragmentation: probing a prototypical photoinduced ring opening.
Transient X-ray fragmentation: probing a prototypical photoinduced ring opening.
Physical review letters (2012-09-26)
Vladimir S Petrović, Marco Siano, James L White, Nora Berrah, Christoph Bostedt, John D Bozek, Douglas Broege, Max Chalfin, Ryan N Coffee, James Cryan, Li Fang, Joseph P Farrell, Leszek J Frasinski, James M Glownia, Markus Gühr, Matthias Hoener, David M P Holland, Jaehee Kim, Jonathan P Marangos, Todd Martinez, Brian K McFarland, Russell S Minns, Shungo Miyabe, Sebastian Schorb, Roseanne J Sension, Limor S Spector, Richard Squibb, Hongli Tao, Jonathan G Underwood, Philip H Bucksbaum
PMID23004597
ABSTRACT
We report the first study of UV-induced photoisomerization probed via core ionization by an x-ray laser. We investigated x-ray ionization and fragmentation of the cyclohexadiene-hexatriene system at 850 eV during the ring opening. We find that the ion-fragmentation patterns evolve over a picosecond, reflecting a change in the state of excitation and the molecular geometry: the average kinetic energy per ion fragment and H(+)-ion count increase as the ring opens and the molecule elongates. We discuss new opportunities for molecular photophysics created by optical pump x-ray probe experiments.