Abstract
Observing changes in molecular structure requires atomic-scale Ångstrom and femtosecond spatio-temporal resolution. We use the Fourier transform (FT) variant of laser-induced electron diffraction (LIED), FT-LIED, to directly retrieve the molecular structure of H2O+ with picometer and femtosecond resolution without a priori knowledge of the molecular structure nor the use of retrieval algorithms or ab initio calculations. We identify a symmetrically stretched H2O+ field-dressed structure that is most likely in the ground electronic state. We subsequently study the nuclear response of an isolated water molecule to an external laser field at four different field strengths. We show that upon increasing the laser field strength from 2.5 to 3.8 V/Å, the O-H bond is further stretched and the molecule slightly bends. The observed ultrafast structural changes lead to an increase in the dipole moment of water and, in turn, a stronger dipole interaction between the nuclear framework of the molecule and the intense laser field. Our results provide important insights into the coupling of the nuclear framework to a laser field as the molecular geometry of H2O+ is altered in the presence of an external field.
Recommended Citation
X. Liu et al., "Imaging an Isolated Water Molecule using a Single Electron Wave Packet," Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 151, no. 2, American Institute of Physics (AIP), Jul 2019.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5100520
Department(s)
Physics
Keywords and Phrases
Calculations; Molecular structure, Ab initio calculations; External laser fields; Femto-second resolution; Ground electronic state; Intense laser field; Molecular geometries; Retrieval algorithms; Spatio-temporal resolution, Molecules
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0021-9606; 1089-7690
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2019 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jul 2019
