Journal Article

PUBDB-2025-04770

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Real-Time Tracking of the intramolecular vibrational dynamics of liquid water

Giovannetti, G.DESY* ; Riabchuk, S. ; Wahid, A. B.Extern*DESY* ; Chen, H.-Y.Extern* ; Batignani, G.Extern* ; Maansson, E.DESY* ; Cannelli, O.XFEL.EU*DESY* ; Mai, E.Extern* ; Trabattoni, A.DESY* ; Neufeld, O. ; Rubio Secades, A.CFEL*MPG* ; Wanie, V.CFEL*DESY* ; marroux, h. (Corresponding author) ; Scopigno, T. (Corresponding author)Extern* ; Chergui, M. (Corresponding author)Extern*XFEL.EU* ; Calegari, F. (Corresponding author)DESY*

2025
Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature [London]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1038/s42004-025-01863-x  doi:10.3204/PUBDB-2025-04770

Abstract: Water plays a critical role in chemistry and biochemistry due to its unique properties that arise from its polar nature and the hydrogen-bonding network it forms. Its vibrational motions occur on the few-femtosecond timescale and are pivotal for energy transfer within the hydrogen-bond network. Despite the latter, the real-time observation of these motions has not been achieved so far due to the high time resolution necessary to capture them. Here, we investigate the ground state vibrational dynamics of liquid water initiated by a sub-5 fs near-infrared (NIR) pump pulse via Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering (ISRS). By monitoring the transient transmission of few-fs ultraviolet (UV) probe pulses through a 5µm-thick liquid jet, we track in real-time the motion of the coherent vibrational wave packet, which is dominated by the high-frequency OH stretch mode, with a 10-fs oscillation period and a damping time of 25 fs. This reveals the rapid dephasing of the OH stretch mode that precedes its relaxation via coupling to the bend modes, highlighting the importance of intermolecular couplings of liquid water in the high frequency vibrational dynamics.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Attosecond Science and Technology (FS-ATTO)

Research Program(s):

1. 631 - Matter – Dynamics, Mechanisms and Control (POF4-631) (POF4-631)
2. DFG project G:(GEPRIS)390715994 - EXC 2056: CUI: Tiefe Einblicke in Materie (390715994) (390715994)
3. DFG project G:(GEPRIS)170620586 - SFB 925: Licht-induzierte Dynamik und Kontrolle korrelierter Quantensysteme (170620586) (170620586)
4. Lasers4EU - European Laser Research Infrastructures serving Science and Industry (101131771) (101131771)
5. DFG project G:(GEPRIS)545611997 - Vermessung von chiralen Transienten von Attosekunden bis Femtosekunden durch ultraschnelle Spektroskopie (545611997) (545611997)
6. GRAPHERGIA - INNOVATIVE PILOT LINES FOR SUSTAINABLE GRAPHENE-BASED FLEXIBLE AND STRUCTURAL ENERGY HARVESTING AND STORAGE DEVICES (101120832) (101120832)
7. SATTOC - Solution attosecond chemistry (101078595) (101078595)
8. VH-NG-1603 - Time-resolved spectroscopy of photo-induced electron dynamics in nuclear transitions (2022_VH-NG-1603) (2022_VH-NG-1603)
9. SoftMeter - Multi-messenger soft-field spectroscopy of molecular electronics at interfaces (101076500) (101076500)

Experiment(s):

1. No specific instrument

Appears in the scientific report 2025

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Database coverage:
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