Latest News
- Sep-2024 : 🎉 👏 Congratulation to Bhavya for succesfully defending her PhD!
- Jul-2024 : 🎉 👏 Congratulation to Mahmudul for successfully defending his PhD!
- June-2024 : Cuong, Jackson, and Lauren are particiating Ultrafast X-ray Summer School (UXSS2024). Have fun! 😊
- May-2024 : 🤩 Our movie of molecular dynamics (o-nitrophenol) has been released. Check it out here.
- May-2024: 🎉 👏 Congratulation to Yibo for successfully defending his PhD!
Research News
Tracking the relaxation pathway upon photoexcitation of o-nitrophenol using Ultrafast Electron Diffraction
The experiment directly revealed the photo-relaxation dynamics of o-nitrophenol by using Ultrafast Electron Diffraction. The structural transformation, the photoproducts formation, and the timescale of the dynamics are all captured. The process involves intramolecular proton transfer, resulting in the loss of molecular planarity, which facilitates a conical intersection between the excited state and ground state. These findings shed light on our understanding of photo reactivity and the underlying reaction mechanisms.
More on this interesting work can be found here.
Ultrafast Diffractive Imaging reveals coherent motion that persists after the molecule relaxes to the ground state
We have observed, experimentally and theoretically, the dynamics that result from bond-breaking in a complex molecule. We determined the structure of a short-lived intermediate state and followed the coherent motion of the atoms that continues after molecule relaxes to the electronic ground state.
Dissociation of Iodine from C2F4I2 molecule. Wanna see our full video? Check it our here in the supplemental material.
Relaxation pathway of CF3I molecule via the conical intersection. Credit also to SLAC-Stanford University.
Imaging CF3I conical intersection and photodissociation dynamics with ultrafast electron diffraction
Our results on imaging a nuclear wavepacket dynamics at conical intersections have been published in Science.
More information is available on the news and publications pages.
Read the Nebraska today press release and highlight from Science.
Yang, Centurion and team featured in APS Physics and Office of Science Highlights
With an ultrafast “electron camera” at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, we have made the first direct snapshots of atomic nuclei in molecules. The news was featured on the front page of APS' Physics website and in several press releases.
APS Physics Viewpoint
Read the SLAC Press Release
Read the Nebraska Today Press Release
Capturing wavepacket of Iodine molecule. Credit to SLAC news for highlighting this work.
Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences Highlight
Our recent results on Femtosecond Electron Diffraction have been chosen as a Science Highlight "Capturing Molecular Motion with Relativistic Electrons" by the Department of Energy – Basic Energy Sciences.
Physicists use electrons to record more 'frames' of atomic motion
We have finally achieved femtosecond resolution in electron diffraction from molecules in the gas phase. The experiments were done at SLAC with a relativistic electron gun. The results were picked up by several news agencies. More about this work can be found here.
Temporal evolution of Nitrogen rotational wavepacket upon photo-induced molecular alignment.
Ultrafast imaging of isolated molecules with electron diffraction
The Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics published a Topical Review of "Ultrafast imaging of isolated molecules with electron diffraction" in February 2016.
SPIE Features "Sub-picosecond imaging of short-lived molecular structures"
In an article for the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), we discussed the ultrafast electron diffraction and femtosecond laser pulses behind our research and how it can lead to unprecedented areas of imaging resolutions.
