Capturing Attosecond-to-femtosecond Chiral Transients with Ultrafast Spectroscopy

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Markus Ilchen; Dr. Vincent Wanie
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 545611997

The proposed research program aims at achieving three major breakthroughs in the field of molecular chirality: 1) Provide the first experimental demonstration of charge-directed reactivity in chiral molecules. This will be achieved by exploiting ultrafast photo-induced electron-driven dynamics, building on our previous observations of electronic coherences in methyl-lactate molecules. 2) Map in real-time the intermolecular chiral recognition process which is ubiquitous in chemistry and biology. This will be achieved through pump-probe time-resolved photoelectron circular dichroism measurements with few-femtosecond time resolution. 3) Investigate coherent electron dynamics and chiral recognition with site-specificity. We will build on the knowledge acquired from Objectives 1 and 2 and apply for beamtimes at Free-Electron-Laser facilities (FLASH and EuXFEL, Hamburg).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Major Instrumentation: Optical parametric amplifier
• Instrumentation Group: 5700 Festkörper-Laser
• Partner Organisation: Agence Nationale de la Recherche / The French National Research Agency
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Francesca Calegari
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Valérie Blanchet; Baptiste Fabre; Dr. Yann Mairesse; Professor Dr. Bernard Pons