Ultrafast detection and control of molecular dynamics

AUTOR(ES)

Anfinrud, Philip

FONTE

The National Academy of Sciences

RESUMO

Many elementary chemical and physical processes such as the breaking of a chemical bond or the vibrational motion of atoms within a molecule take place on a femtosecond (fs = 10−15 s) or picosecond (ps = 10−12 s) time scale. It is now possible to monitor these events as a function of time with temporal resolution well below 100 fs. This capability is based on the pump-probe technique where one optical pulse triggers a reaction and a second delayed optical pulse probes the changes that ensue. To illustrate this capability, the dynamics of ligand motion within a protein are presented. Moving beyond casual observation of a reaction to active control of its outcome requires additional experimental and theoretical effort. To illustrate the concept of control, the effect of optical pulse duration on the vibrational dynamics of a tri-atomic molecule are discussed. The experimental and theoretical resources currently available are poised to make the dream of reaction control a reality for certain molecular systems.

Documentos Relacionados

• Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals subnanosecond peptide conformational dynamics and validates molecular dynamics simulation
• Ultrafast dynamics of solvation: the story so far
• Ultrafast surface hydration dynamics and expression of protein functionality: α-Chymotrypsin
• Ultrafast dynamics of many-body processes and fundamental quantum mechanical phenomena in semiconductors
• Direct observation of ultrafast folding and denatured state dynamics in single protein molecules