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Published Online June 24, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1099770

Reports

Submitted on April 29, 2004
Accepted on June 15, 2004

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. Heinz 2*

1 Pierce Hall, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521,USA.
2 Departments of Physics and 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.
Tony F. Heinz , E-mail: tony.heinz{at}columbia.edu

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 of the lateral degrees of freedom of the adsorbed molecules to the substrate electronic excitation produced by the femtosecond laser radiation.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)