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Title: Coherent structural trapping through wave packet dispersion during photoinduced spin state switching

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15342· OSTI ID:1367851
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [7];  [5];  [3]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)
  2. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark); Lund Univ. (Sweden)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark)
  5. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Frascati (Italy)
  6. Univ. of Bordeaux (France)
  7. Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark)
  8. Univ. of Rennes (France)

The description of ultrafast nonadiabatic chemical dynamics during molecular photo-transformations remains challenging because electronic and nuclear configurations impact each other and cannot be treated independently. Here we gain experimental insights, beyond the Born–Oppenheimer approximation, into the light-induced spin-state trapping dynamics of the prototypical [Fe(bpy)3]2+ compound by time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy at sub-30-femtosecond resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio. The electronic decay from the initial optically excited electronic state towards the high spin state is distinguished from the structural trapping dynamics, which launches a coherent oscillating wave packet (265 fs period), clearly identified as molecular breathing. Throughout the structural trapping, the dispersion of the wave packet along the reaction coordinate reveals details of intramolecular vibronic coupling before a slower vibrational energy dissipation to the solution environment. These findings illustrate how modern time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy can provide key information to unravel dynamic details of photo-functional molecules.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1367851
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 124 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (29)

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Cited By (42)

Molecular Spin Crossover Materials: Review of the Lattice Dynamical Properties journal August 2019
The First Observation of Hidden Hysteresis in an Iron(III) Spin‐Crossover Complex journal July 2019
Hot Branching Dynamics in a Light‐Harvesting Iron Carbene Complex Revealed by Ultrafast X‐ray Emission Spectroscopy journal October 2019
Structural Dynamics upon Photoexcitation in a Spin Crossover Crystal Probed with Femtosecond Electron Diffraction journal May 2017
The First Observation of Hidden Hysteresis in an Iron(III) Spin-Crossover Complex journal July 2019
Hot Branching Dynamics in a Light‐Harvesting Iron Carbene Complex Revealed by Ultrafast X‐ray Emission Spectroscopy journal January 2020
Disentangling Ultrafast Electronic and Structural Dynamics with X-Ray Lasers journal September 2018
Tracking multiple components of a nuclear wavepacket in photoexcited Cu(I)-phenanthroline complex using ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy journal August 2019
Vibrational wavepacket dynamics in Fe carbene photosensitizer determined with femtosecond X-ray emission and scattering journal January 2020
Vibrational coherences in manganese single-molecule magnets after ultrafast photoexcitation journal March 2020
Impulsive UV-pump/X-ray probe study of vibrational dynamics in glycine journal October 2018
Spin-state dependence of the structural and vibrational properties of solvated iron( ii ) polypyridyl complexes from AIMD simulations: II. aqueous [Fe(tpy) 2 ]Cl 2 journal January 2019
Photoinduced anisotropic distortion as the electron trapping site of tungsten trioxide by ultrafast W L 1 -edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy with full potential multiple scattering calculations journal January 2020
A first peek into sub-picosecond dynamics of spin energy levels in magnetic biomolecules journal January 2019
Ligand manipulation of charge transfer excited state relaxation and spin crossover in [Fe(2,2′-bipyridine) 2 (CN) 2 ] journal July 2017
Perspective: Opportunities for ultrafast science at SwissFEL journal November 2017
Light-induced magnetization changes in aggregated and isolated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles journal September 2018
Hard X-ray induced fast secondary electron cascading processes in solids journal September 2018
Ultrafast molecular photophysics in the deep-ultraviolet journal February 2019
A versatile experimental system for tracking ultrafast chemical reactions with X-ray free-electron lasers journal September 2019
Photoinduced valence tautomerism of a cobalt-dioxolene complex revealed with femtosecond M-edge XANES journal September 2019
Photoselective MLCT to d-d pathways for light-induced excited spin state trapping journal November 2019
Chemical interactions and dynamics with femtosecond X-ray spectroscopy and the role of X-ray free-electron lasers journal April 2019
Scientific instrument Femtosecond X-ray Experiments (FXE): instrumentation and baseline experimental capabilities journal August 2019
Lattice phonon modes of the spin crossover crystal [Fe(phen)2(NCS)2] studied by THz, IR, Raman spectroscopies and DFT calculations journal January 2019
Hole dynamics in a photovoltaic donor-acceptor couple revealed by simulated time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy text January 2019
Initial metal-metal bond breakage detected by fs X-ray scattering in the photolysis of Ru3(CO)12 in cyclohexane at 400 nm text January 2019
Structural Dynamics upon Photoexcitation in a Spin Crossover Crystal Probed with Femtosecond Electron Diffraction journal May 2017
Sub-50 fs broadband absorption spectroscopy with tunable excitation: putting the analysis of ultrafast molecular dynamics on solid ground journal June 2009
Initial metal–metal bond breakage detected by fs X-ray scattering in the photolysis of Ru 3 (CO) 12 in cyclohexane at 400 nm journal January 2019
The restricted active space followed by second-order perturbation theory method: Theory and application to the study of CuO2 and Cu2O2 systems journal May 2008
Hard X-ray induced fast secondary electron cascading processes in solids text January 2018
Chemical interactions and dynamics with femtosecond X-ray spectroscopy and the role of X-ray free-electron lasers text January 2019
Perspective: Opportunities for ultrafast science at SwissFEL text January 2017
Hole dynamics in a photovoltaic donor-acceptor couple revealed by simulated time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy journal July 2019
Vibrational wavepacket dynamics in Fe carbene photosensitizer determined with femtosecond X-ray emission and scattering text January 2020
Improved charge transfer multiplet method to simulate M - and L -edge X-ray absorption spectra of metal-centered excited states text January 2018
Vibrational Coherences in Manganese Single-molecule Magnets after Ultrafast Photoexcitation posted_content December 2018
Tracking multiple components of a nuclear wavepacket in photoexcited Cu(I)-phenanthroline complex using ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy text January 2019
Hot Branching Dynamics in a Light‐Harvesting Iron Carbene Complex Revealed by Ultrafast X‐ray Emission Spectroscopy text January 2020
Perspective: Opportunities for ultrafast science at SwissFEL text January 2017
Perspective: THz-driven nuclear dynamics from solids to molecules text January 2017

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