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    Ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) tagged posts

    Ultra-High-Speed ‘Electron Camera’ catches Molecules at a Crossroads: To break, or not to break

    July 5, 2018, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Energy landscapes of a molecule during a light-driven chemical reaction. Like a golf ball rolling on a curved putting green, the molecule can follow reaction paths on these surfaces. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

    Energy landscapes of a molecule during a light-driven chemical reaction. Like a golf ball rolling on a curved putting green, the molecule can follow reaction paths on these surfaces. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

    An extremely fast “electron camera” at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has produced the most detailed atomic movie of the decisive point where molecules hit by light can either stay intact or break apart. The results could lead to a better understanding of how molecules respond to light in processes that are crucial for life, like photosynthesis and vision, or that are potentially harmful, such as DNA damage from ultraviolet light.

    In the study, researchers looked at a gas whose molecules have 5 atoms each...

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    High-speed ‘Electron Camera’ films Atomic Nuclei in Vibrating Molecules

    September 1, 2016, Categories  Physics

    Using SLAC's instrument for ultrafast electron diffraction, researchers were able to directly see the motions of atomic nuclei in vibrating molecules for the first time. In the experiment, a laser pulse (green) hit a spray of iodine gas (at right). This stimulated vibrations in the iodine molecules, which consist of two iodine atoms connected via a chemical bond (top left). The molecules were then hit by an electron beam (blue), generating a characteristic diffraction pattern (background) on a detector, from which the separation of the nuclei can be precisely determined. Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

    Using SLAC’s instrument for ultrafast electron diffraction, researchers were able to directly see the motions of atomic nuclei in vibrating molecules for the first time. In the experiment, a laser pulse (green) hit a spray of iodine gas (at right). This stimulated vibrations in the iodine molecules, which consist of two iodine atoms connected via a chemical bond (top left). The molecules were then hit by an electron beam (blue), generating a characteristic diffraction pattern (background) on a detector, from which the separation of the nuclei can be precisely determined. Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

    Ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) gives new ways to study rapid nuclear motions in nature’s light-dependent processes...

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