PNAS: Ultrafast Images of an Exciton Reveal its Internal Structure

The time dependence of the internal structure of the charge-transfer exciton in LiF, created by an idealized point source (represented by the wavy line). Image courtesy APS.

MRL Principal Investigator Peter Abbamonte (Physics), along with collaborators at Argonne National Laboratory, have used x-ray scattering to image the structure of the valence exciton in the LiF with attosecond time resolution. Their study suggests a simplified model of tightly-bound excitons that could be useful for modeling organic molecular devices.

The work has been published in the August 26, 2008 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as well as being highlighted by the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory where the team examined the valence charge-transfer exciton in LiF with causally-inverted inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) at the ChemMatCARS 15-ID-B,C,D and XOR/CMC 9-ID-B,C beamlines.

Related items

• Peter Abbamonte, Tim Graber, James P. Reed, Serban Smadici, Chen-Lin-Yeh, Abhay Shukla, Jean-Pascal Rueff, and Wei Ku, “Dynamical reconstruction of the exciton in LiF with inelastic x-ray scattering,” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 105 (34), 12159 (2008). DOI:10.1073/pnas.0801623105
• Argonne/APS: Nailing Down the Exciton in LiF