How Molecular Footballs Burst in An X-Ray Laser Beam (VIDEO)
Caption
Real-time simulation dynamics of a C60 'buckyball' molecule induced by a single 20 femtoseconds (fs; quadrillionth of a second) long X-ray laser pulse centered at t = 0 fs, with colour-coded charged states of the carbon atoms. The atomic ionization is triggered by the X-ray pulse, then the atomic sites exchange charge visualised by the ongoing color changes. Since the underlying quantum processes such as photoionization and charge transfer are stochastic in nature, the time evolution proceeds differently from pulse to pulse.
Credit
Simulation und Animation: DESY, Zoltan Jurek
Usage Restrictions
Free use by the media if reporting on the related paper.
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Licensed content