Electron diffraction of CBr{sub 4} in superfluid helium droplets: A step towards single molecule diffraction

Journal Article · Thu Jul 21 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Chemical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4958931· OSTI ID:22675949

He, Yunteng; Zhang, Jie; Kong, Wei ^[1]

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1. Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-4003 (United States)

We demonstrate the practicality of electron diffraction of single molecules inside superfluid helium droplets using CBr{sub 4} as a testing case. By reducing the background from pure undoped droplets via multiple doping, with small corrections for dimers and trimers, clearly resolved diffraction rings of CBr{sub 4} similar to those of gas phase molecules can be observed. The experimental data from CBr{sub 4} doped droplets are in agreement with both theoretical calculations and with experimental results of gaseous species. The abundance of monomers and clusters in the droplet beam also qualitatively agrees with the Poisson statistics. Possible extensions of this approach to macromolecular ions will also be discussed. This result marks the first step in building a molecular goniometer using superfluid helium droplet cooling and field induced orientation. The superior cooling effect of helium droplets is ideal for field induced orientation, but the diffraction background from helium is a concern. This work addresses this background issue and identifies a possible solution. Accumulation of diffraction images only becomes meaningful when all images are produced from molecules oriented in the same direction, and hence a molecular goniometer is a crucial technology for serial diffraction of single molecules.

• OSTI ID: 22675949
• Journal Information: Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Chemical Physics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 145; ISSN JCPSA6; ISSN 0021-9606
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
CLUSTER BEAMS
DOPED MATERIALS
DROPLETS
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HELIUM
MOLECULES
SUPERFLUIDITY