Single Molecule Dynamics with Joint Angstrom-Femtosecond Resolution

ORAL

Abstract

The investigation of single molecule dynamics with joint spatial-temporal resolution pushes the limit of measurement in nanoscale phenomena. By shining femtosecond laser pulse pairs with adjustable time delay into the junction of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with an adsorbed molecule on the surface, the dynamics of its chemical transformation can be followed in space-time. As an example, we probe the reversible conformational change in an isolated pyrrolidine molecule adsorbed on a Cu (100) surface. A periodic, decaying oscillation was observed in the transition rate as a function of the time delay, thereby revealing that the conformational change was coherently driven by the excitation of a particular vibrational mode in the molecule. The atomic scale resolution was demonstrated by observing the influence on the dynamics of a molecule by a nearby molecule.

*This work is supported by National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation on Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit (CaSTL) under Grant No. CHE-1414466. In addition, J. L. was supported by the National Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11474056.

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Presenters

  • Siyu Chen

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine

Authors

  • Siyu Chen

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine

  • Shaowei Li

    • Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine
    • Physics, Univ of California - Irvine

  • Likun Wang

    • Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine

  • Jie Li

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine

  • Ruqian Wu

    • Univ of California - Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of California - Irvine
    • University of California, Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine
    • Physics, Univ of California - Irvine

  • Wilson Ho

    • Physics and Astronomy, Univ of California - Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
    • University of California, Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
    • Univ of California - Irvine
    • Physics, Univ of California - Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of California - Irvine