Abstract
Molecular dynamics is of fundamental interest in natural science research. The capability of investigating molecular dynamics is one of the various motivations for ultrafast optics. We present our investigation of photoionization and nuclear dynamics in methyl iodine (CH3I) molecule with an X-ray pump X-ray probe scheme. The pump–probe experiment was realized with a two-mirror X-ray split and delay apparatus. Time-of-flight mass spectra at various pump–probe delay times were recorded to obtain the time profile for the creation of high charge states via sequential ionization and for molecular dissociation. We observed high charge states of atomic iodine up to 29+, and visualized the evolution of creating these high atomic ion charge states, including their population suppression and enhancement as the arrival time of the second X-ray pulse was varied. We also show the evolution of the kinetics of the high charge states upon the timing of their creation during the ionization-dissociation coupled dynamics. We demonstrate the implementation of X-ray pump–probe methodology for investigating X-ray induced molecular dynamics with femtosecond temporal resolution. The results indicate the footprints of ionization that lead to high charge states, probing the long-range potential curves of the high charge states.
Highlights
Molecular dynamics, including nuclear motion and electronic motion, are one of the fundamental aspects in scientific investigations, the information of which provides microscopic insights into chemical reactions and biological processes
We used a two-mirror X-ray split and delay (XRSD) apparatus to generate two X-ray pulses for the pump–probe experiment where we investigated the molecular dynamics in CH3 I molecule
We presented an investigation of the ionization and dissociation dynamics in CH3 I molecule with an X-ray pump and X-ray probe scheme
Summary
Molecular dynamics, including nuclear motion and electronic motion, are one of the fundamental aspects in scientific investigations, the information of which provides microscopic insights into chemical reactions and biological processes. Due to the ultrafast nature of molecular dynamics, e.g., tens to a few hundred femtoseconds for nuclear motion and sub-femtosecond to a few femtoseconds for electronic motion, ultrafast optical tools are needed for the investigation of these dynamics. Tabletop optical lasers in near infrared, VUV, and XUV regimes have been widely applied in work regarding the evolution of nuclear wavepackets and electronic wavepackets, typically with a pump–probe scheme [4,5]. Pump–probe experiments in the X-ray regime with tabletop lasers are still a challenge, due to the low photon output
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