Ultrafast dynamics in intermolecular energy transfer: elementary processes in aerosols and liquid chemistry

We will establish a unique research platform for the investigation of ultrafast transport phenomena in well-defined molecular aggregates and liquid droplets for studying the very details of intra- and intermolecular charge, electron, mass, and energy transfer. These processes define, for instance, light harvesting and energy conversion.

The project is a collaboration between researchers at Universität Hamburg and Lund University, whose complementary expertise in the preparation of well-defined complex molecular systems, ultrashort-time-resolved ion- and electron-imaging at FELs, attosecond experiments and the investigation of ultrafast electronic dynamics in complex molecules, will enable a range of ground-breaking experiments at the large-scale facilities at MAX IV, DESY, and European XFEL as well as at the attosecond laboratories at Lund University and CFEL.

With CAMP@FLASH, P04 at Petra, MAX IV and the SQS end station at EuXFEL being fully operational, the application is timely and promises to enable frontier research into the transport phenomena in complex molecular matter for years to come.

In addition, intense efforts during the last years recently led to the breaking of the attosecond barrier at FEL sources, which will ultimately enable these studies to be performed in completely new realms.