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Originally published in Science Express on 24 June 2004
Science 30 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5684, pp. 648 - 651
DOI: 10.1126/science.1099770
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Reports

Real-Space Observation of Molecular Motion Induced by Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Ludwig Bartels,1 Feng Wang,2 Dietmar Möller,2 Ernst Knoesel,3 Tony F. Heinz2*

Femtosecond laser irradiation is used to excite adsorbed CO molecules on a Cu(110) surface; the ensuing motion of individual molecules across the surface is characterized on a site-to-site basis by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. Adsorbate motion both along and perpendicular to the rows of the Cu(110) surface occurs readily, in marked contrast to the behavior seen for equilibrium diffusion processes. The experimental findings for the probability and direction of the molecular motion can be understood as a manifestation of strong coupling between the adsorbates' lateral degrees of freedom and the substrate electronic excitation produced by the femtosecond laser radiation.

1 Pierce Hall, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
2 Department of Physics and Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tony.heinz{at}columbia.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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S. W. Wu, N. Ogawa, and W. Ho (2006)
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