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Science 2 November 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5851, p. 711
DOI: 10.1126/science.318.5851.711c
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Figure 1 Photoinduced transitions in solids such as vanadium dioxide (VO2) that convert from insulators to metals have been studied by a range of spectroscopic methods. However, the underlying rearrangements can involve motion along several different coordinates, and so the deepest understanding is likely to come from techniques that monitor all of these movements simultaneously. Baum et al. (p. 788; see the Perspective by Cavalleri) have made progress toward this goal by applying time-resolved electron diffraction to a VO2 sample in the midst of its transformation. The well-confined probing depth and high signal-to-noise ratio permitted resolution of local atomic motion, as well as the slower and longer range onset of lattice shear over a time scale ranging from ~1 to 100 picoseconds.

CREDIT: BAUM ET AL.




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