MBI Colloquium: Controlling chemistry at extreme time scales

Mittwoch, 02. Oktober 2024 // 14.00 -

Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie

Max-Born-Straße 2a, 12489 Berlin
Max Born Hall

Prof. Francesca Calegari | Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), DESY Hamburg

The technological breakthrough of attosecond light sources¹, which was highlighted with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023, has given us direct access to the electron time scale in matter. This has contributed to the birth of the new field of attochemistry^2,3, which aims to control chemical reactivity by influencing electronic motion.

In this talk, I will give first an overview on our recent advancements in generating extremely short light pulses from the ultraviolet (UV)^4,5 to the soft X-ray spectral ranges. I will then present a range of applications for these ultrashort light transients, including the real-time tracking of ultrafast charge migration and dissociative dynamics prompted in photoexcited molecules^7,8 and the observation of plasmon dynamics in fullerenes and nanoparticles. I will particularly discuss the possibility of initiating well-controlled charge migration in chiral neutral molecules as a novel approach to achieve charge-directed reactivity⁹, the holy grail of attochemistry.

1. F. Calegari et al, J. Phys. B: Atom. Mol. Opt. Phys. 49, 062001 (2016)
2. M. Nisoli, P. Decleva, F. Calegari et al, Chem. Rev. 117, 10760 (2017)
3. F. Calegari, F. Martin, Commun Chem 6, 184 (2023)
4. M. Galli et int., and F. Calegari, Opt. Lett. 44(6), 1308-1311 (2019)
5. V. Wanie et int., and F. Calegari, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 95, 083004 (2024)
6. L Seiffert et int., F Calegari, MF Kling, Nature Physics 13, 766 (2017)
7. F. Calegari et al, Science 346, 336 (2014)
8. E. P Månsson et int., and F. Calegari, Communications Chemistry 4 (1), 1-7 (2021)
9. V. Wanie et int.,and F. Calegari, Nature 630, 109–115 (2024)