Jérémy R. Rouxel

Photoinduced molecular chirality probed by ultrafast resonant X-ray spectroscopy

Recently developed circularly polarized X-ray light sources can probe the ultrafast chiral electronic and nuclear dynamics through spatially localized resonant core transitions. We present simulations of time-resolved circular dichroism signals given by the difference of left and right circularly polarized X-ray probe transmission following an excitation by a circularly polarized optical pump with the variable time delay. Application is made to formamide which is achiral in the ground state and assumes two chiral geometries upon optical excitation to the first valence excited state. Probes resonant with various K-edges (C, N, and O) provide different local windows onto the parity breaking geometry change thus revealing the enantiomer asymmetry.

Monitoring molecular nonadiabatic dynamics with femtosecond X-ray diffraction

Significance X-ray crystallography has long been used to determine the structure of crystals and molecular samples. More recent advancements in light sources and computational methods made it possible to routinely determine the structure of large proteins. The introduction of X-ray free-electron lasers opens up the possibility to track the dynamics of molecular structures on a femtosecond time scale and to create molecular movies of chemical reactions. The theory of time-independent diffraction is well known. However, time-resolved diffraction techniques pose not only new challenges to experiments but also to their interpretation. In this work, we present a unified theoretical framework that will aid experimental interpretations as well as predictions of types of X-ray diffraction experiments. Ultrafast time-resolved X-ray scattering, made possible by free-electron laser sources, provides a wealth of information about electronic and nuclear dynamical processes in molecules. The technique provides stroboscopic snapshots of the time-dependent electronic charge density traditionally used in structure determination and reflects the interplay of elastic and inelastic processes, nonadiabatic dynamics, and electronic populations and coherences. The various contributions to ultrafast off-resonant diffraction from populations and coherences of molecules in crystals, in the gas phase, or from single molecules are surveyed for core-resonant and off-resonant diffraction. Single-molecule ∝N scaling and two-molecule ∝N2 scaling contributions, where N is the number of active molecules, are compared. Simulations are presented for the excited-state nonadiabatic dynamics of the electron harpooning at the avoided crossing in NaF. We show how a class of multiple diffraction signals from a single molecule can reveal charge-density fluctuations through multidimensional correlation functions of the charge density.

Attosecond X-ray Diffraction Triggered by Core or Valence Ionization of a Dipeptide

With the advancement of intense ultrafast X-ray sources, it is now possible to create a molecular movie by following the electronic dynamics in real time and real space through time-resolved X-ray diffraction. Here we employ real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) to simulate the electronic dynamics after an impulse core or valence ionization in the glycine-phenylalanine (GF) dipeptide. The time-evolving dipole moment, the charge density, and the time-resolved X-ray diffraction signals are calculated. The charge oscillation is calculated for 7 fs for valence ionization and 500 as for core ionization. The charge oscillation time scale is comparable to that found in a phenylalanine monomer (4 fs) [ Science 2014 , 346 , 336 ] and is slightly longer because of the elongated glycine chain. Following valence ionization, the charge migration across the GF is mediated by the delocalized lone-pair orbitals of oxygen and nitrogen of the electron-rich amide group. The temporal Fourier transform of the dipole moment provides detailed information on the charge migration dynamics and the molecular orbitals involved. Heterodyne-detected attosecond X-ray diffraction signals provide the magnitude and phase of the scattering amplitude in momentum space and can thus be inverted to yield the charge density in real space.

Linear and nonlinear frequency- and time-domain spectroscopy with multiple frequency combs

Two techniques that employ equally spaced trains of optical pulses to map an optical high frequency into a low frequency modulation of the signal that can be detected in real time are compared. The development of phase-stable optical frequency combs has opened up new avenues to metrology and spectroscopy. The ability to generate a series of frequency spikes with precisely controlled separation permits a fast, highly accurate sampling of the material response. Recently, pairs of frequency combs with slightly different repetition rates have been utilized to down-convert material susceptibilities from the optical to microwave regime where they can be recorded in real time. We show how this one-dimensional dual comb technique can be extended to multiple dimensions by using several combs. We demonstrate how nonlinear susceptibilities can be quickly acquired using this technique. In a second class of techniques, sequences of ultrafast mode locked laser pulses are used to recover pathways of interactions contributing to nonlinear susceptibilities by using a photo-acoustic modulation varying along the sequences. We show that these techniques can be viewed as a time-domain analog of the multiple frequency comb scheme.

Impulsive UV-pump/X-ray probe study of vibrational dynamics in glycine

We report an ab-initio study of a pump-probe experiment on the amino-acid glycine. We consider an UV pump followed by an X-ray probe tuned to carbon K-edge and study the vibronic structure of the core transition. The simulated experiment is feasible using existing free electron laser or high harmonic generation sources and thanks to the localization of the core orbitals posseses chemical selectivity. The present theory applies to other experimental schemes, including the use of a THz probe, available with present soft X-ray free electron lasers and/or high harmonic generation sources.

Diffraction-Detected Sum Frequency Generation: Novel Ultrafast X-ray Probe of Molecular Dynamics

We propose a novel time-resolved diffraction technique based on sum frequency generation that combines an optical pump with an X-ray stimulated Raman probe. Simulations are presented for formyl fluoride, which is nonchiral in the ground state and evolves into a chiral nonplanar structure in the first excited state upon excitation by a circularly polarized UV pump. A coherently controlled elliptically polarized pump is used to prepare the molecule in a selected enantiomer and the chiral interconversion dynamics is then monitored by the probe diffraction.

Phase Cycling RT-TDDFT Simulation Protocol for Nonlinear XUV and X-ray Molecular Spectroscopy

Real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) provides a practical algorithm for propagating a many-electron system driven by external laser fields. The fields are included nonperturbatively in the propagation, and the molecular reduced single-electron density operator and various spectroscopic and diffraction signals can be computed directly, avoiding the expensive calculation of many-body states. Nonlinear optical signals contain contributions of multiple pathways. A phase cycling protocol is implemented in order to separate these pathways. Simulations of XUV four-wave mixing signals in the CO molecule are compared with ab initio sum-over-states calculations.

Current vs Charge Density Contributions to Nonlinear X-ray Spectroscopy.

Stimulated (coherent) and spontaneous (incoherent) nonlinear X-ray signals are expressed using a spatially nonlocal response tensor which directly connects them to the time evolving current j and charge σ densities rather than to electric and magnetic multipoles. The relative contributions of the σA(2) and j · A minimal coupling terms, where A is the vector potential, are demonstrated. The two dominate off-resonant and resonant scattering, respectively, and make comparable contributions at near resonant detunings.