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XUV excitation followed by ultrafast non-adiabatic relaxation in PAH molecules as a femto-astrochemistry experiment

Highly excited molecular species are at play in the chemistry of interstellar media and are involved in the creation of radiation damage in a biological tissue. Recently developed ultrashort extreme ultraviolet light sources offer the high excitation energies and ultrafast time-resolution required f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marciniak, Alexandre (Author) , Despré, V. (Author) , Barillot, T. (Author) , Rouzée, Arnaud (Author) , Galbraith, M. C. E. (Author) , Klei, J. (Author) , Yang, C.-H. (Author) , Smeenk, C. T. L. (Author) , Loriot, V. (Author) , Reddy, S. Nagaprasad (Author) , Tielens, A. G. G. M. (Author) , Mahapatra, S. (Author) , Kuleff, Alexander I. (Author) , Vrakking, Marc J. J. (Author) , Lépine, F. (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 13 August 2015
In: Nature Communications
Year: 2015, Volume: 6
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms8909
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8909
Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8909
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Author Notes:A. Marciniak, V. Despré, T. Barillot, A. Rouzée, M.C.E. Galbraith, J. Klei, C.-H. Yang, C.T.L. Smeenk, V. Loriot, S. Nagaprasad Reddy, A.G.G.M. Tielens, S. Mahapatra, A.I. Kuleff, M.J.J. Vrakking & F. Lépine
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Summary:Highly excited molecular species are at play in the chemistry of interstellar media and are involved in the creation of radiation damage in a biological tissue. Recently developed ultrashort extreme ultraviolet light sources offer the high excitation energies and ultrafast time-resolution required for probing the dynamics of highly excited molecular states on femtosecond (fs) (1 fs=10−15s) and even attosecond (as) (1 as=10−18 s) timescales. Here we show that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) undergo ultrafast relaxation on a few tens of femtoseconds timescales, involving an interplay between the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. Our work reveals a general property of excited radical PAHs that can help to elucidate the assignment of diffuse interstellar absorption bands in astrochemistry, and provides a benchmark for the manner in which coupled electronic and nuclear dynamics determines reaction pathways in large molecules following extreme ultraviolet excitation.
Item Description:Gesehen am 08.06.2020
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms8909

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