X-ray diffractive imaging of controlled gas-phase molecules: Toward imaging of dynamics in the molecular frame

Abstract

We report experimental results on the diffractive imaging of three-dimensionally aligned 2,5-diiodothiophene molecules. The molecules were aligned by chirped near-infrared laser pulses, and their structure was probed at a photon energy of 9.5 keV ($\lambda \approx 130\text{pm}$) provided by the Linac Coherent Light Source. Diffracted photons were recorded on the CSPAD detector and a two-dimensional diffraction pattern of the equilibrium structure of 2,5-diiodothiophene was recorded. The retrieved distance between the two iodine atoms agrees with the quantum-chemically calculated molecular structure to within 5 %. The experimental approach allows for the imaging of intrinsic molecular dynamics in the molecular frame, albeit this requires more experimental data which should be readily available at upcoming high-repetition-rate facilities.

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• A new route for enantio-sensitive structure determination by photoelectron scattering on molecules in the gas phase
• Ultraintense, ultrashort pulse x-ray scattering in small molecules
• Retrieval of missing small-angle scattering data in gas-phase diffraction experiments