Abstract
Strong laser pulses enable probing molecules with their own electrons. The oscillating electric field tears electrons off a molecule, accelerates them, and drives them back toward their parent ion within a few femtoseconds. The electrons are then diffracted by the molecular potential, encoding its structure and dynamics with angstrom and attosecond resolutions. Using elliptically polarized laser pulses, we show that laser-induced electron diffraction is sensitive to the chirality of the target. The field selectively ionizes molecules of a given orientation and drives the electrons along different sets of trajectories, leading them to recollide from different directions. Depending on the handedness of the molecule, the electrons are preferentially diffracted forward or backward along the light propagation axis. This asymmetry, reaching several percent, can be reversed for electrons recolliding from two ends of the molecule. The chiral sensitivity of laser-induced electron diffraction opens a new path to resolve ultrafast chiral dynamics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 011015 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Physical Review X |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
We thank R. Bouillaud, F. Blais, N. Fedorov, and L. Merzeau for technical assistance. This project has received funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)—Shotime (ANR-21-CE30-038-01), from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programs No. 682978—EXCITERS, No. 864127—ATTOGRAM, and from No. 871124—Laserlab-Europe.All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Physics and Astronomy