Charge migration induced by attosecond pulses in bio-relevant molecules

Calegari, Francesca; Trabattoni, Andrea; Palacios, Alicia; Ayuso, David Fernández; Castrovilli, Mattea Carmen; Greenwood, J. B.; Decleva, P.; Martín, Fernando; Nisoli, M.

doi:10.1088/0953-4075/49/14/142001

Cited by 99 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 194 publications

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“…The ELYCHE attosecond beamline and the KEIRAlite mass spectrometer used for the experiments have been described in detail elsewhere [23] [30] [31] [32], but a brief description is provided here. The driving laser is a commercial Ti:Sapphire amplified laser (Femtopower PRO V CEP, Femtolaser), releasing 25-fs laser pulses with 6 mJ energy per pulse at 1 kHz repetition rate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrafast dynamics in the DNA building blocks thymidine and thymine initiated by ionizing radiation

Månsson

Camillis

Castrovilli

et al. 2017

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

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Understanding of how energetic charged particles damage DNA is crucial for improving radiotherapy techniques such as hadron therapy and for the development of new radiosensitizer drugs. In the present study, the damage caused by energetic particles was simulated by measuring the action of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulses on the DNA building blocks thymine and thymidine. This allowed the ultrafast processes triggered by direct ionization to be probed with an optical pulse with a time resolution of a few femtoseconds. By measuring the yields of fragment ions as a function of the delay between the XUV pulse and the probe pulse, a number of transient processes typically lasting 100 femtoseconds or less were observed. These were particularly strong in thymidine which consists of the thymine base attached to a deoxyribose sugar. This dynamics was interpreted as excited states of the cation, formed by the XUV pulse, rapidly decaying via non-adiabatic coupling between electronic states. This provides the first experimental insight into the mechanisms which immediately proceed from the action of ionizing radiation on DNA and provides a basis on which further theoretical and experimental studies can be conducted.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrafast dynamics in the DNA building blocks thymidine and thymine initiated by ionizing radiation

Månsson

Camillis

Castrovilli

et al. 2017

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

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“…37 and 77 for recent reviews). Its observation and control in real time therefore represents a considerable challenge for state-of-the-art experimental techniques.…”

Section: Charge Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Charge migration and charge transfer in molecular systems

Wörner

Arrell

Banerji

et al. 2017

Structural Dynamics

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The transfer of charge at the molecular level plays a fundamental role in many areas of chemistry, physics, biology and materials science. Today, more than 60 years after the seminal work of R. A. Marcus, charge transfer is still a very active field of research. An important recent impetus comes from the ability to resolve ever faster temporal events, down to the attosecond time scale. Such a high temporal resolution now offers the possibility to unravel the most elementary quantum dynamics of both electrons and nuclei that participate in the complex process of charge transfer. This review covers recent research that addresses the following questions. Can we reconstruct the migration of charge across a molecule on the atomic length and electronic time scales? Can we use strong laser fields to control charge migration? Can we temporally resolve and understand intramolecular charge transfer in dissociative ionization of small molecules, in transition-metal complexes and in conjugated polymers? Can we tailor molecular systems towards specific charge-transfer processes? What are the time scales of the elementary steps of charge transfer in liquids and nanoparticles? Important new insights into each of these topics, obtained from state-of-the-art ultrafast spectroscopy and/or theoretical methods, are summarized in this review.

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“…Attosecond laser sources have already opened up the ability to study coherent electronic motion, such as charge migration and quantum interference between electrons 101,102 . Attosecond lasers may enable studies of electron-nuclear wavepacket motion 103 .…”

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confidence: 99%