Abstract
An apparatus has been developed for electron-atom Compton scattering experiments that can employ a pulsed laser and a picosecond pulsed electron beam in a pump-and-probe scheme. The design and technical details of the apparatus are described. Furthermore, experimental results on the Xe atom in its ground state are presented to illustrate the performance of the pulsed electron gun and the detection and spectrometric capabilities for scattered electrons. The scope of future application is also discussed, involving real-time measurement of intramolecular force acting on each constituent atom with different mass numbers, in a transient, evolving system during a molecular reaction.
Highlights
About 20 years have passed since Vos and others [1] suggested that atomic motion in molecules or solids can be directly measured by atomic momentum spectroscopy (AMS), which employs electron-atom Compton scattering at a large scattering angle (θ > 90◦) and at incident electron energies of the order of keV or higher
Note that AMS is unique in its ability and it is totally different from existing related techniques, such as laser vibrational spectroscopy that tells one about accurate information regarding frequencies of canonical normal modes of molecular vibration [7], but not regarding atomic motion itself
AMS data for the neutral Xe atom in its ground state have been measured by using the pulsed electron gun and they are presented to illustrate the potential performance of the apparatus for future molecular dynamics studies
Summary
About 20 years have passed since Vos and others [1] suggested that atomic motion in molecules or solids can be directly measured by atomic momentum spectroscopy (AMS), which employs electron-atom Compton scattering at a large scattering angle (θ > 90◦) and at incident electron energies of the order of keV or higher. It is not an easy task to combine the AMS technique with a short-pulsed electron beam; if the intensity of an electron beam with a short pulse width (
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