Femtochemistry is the science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 that studies chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

s on extremely short timescales, approximately 10^–15 seconds (one femtosecond, hence the name).

Introduction

The steps in the formation of new products by chemical reactions take place in the femtosecond timescale and sometimes in attosecond timescales.

Nobel Prize winner

In 1999, Ahmed H. Zewail received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...

 for his pioneering work in this field. Zewail’s technique uses flashes of laser

Laser

A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...

 light that last for a few femtoseconds. Femtochemistry is the area of physical chemistry

Physical chemistry

Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...

 that addresses the short time period in which chemical reactions take place and investigates why some reactions occur but not others. Zewail’s picture-taking technique made possible these investigations. One of the first major discoveries of femtochemistry was to reveal details about the intermediate products that form during chemical reactions, which cannot be deduced from observing the starting and end products. Many publications have discussed the possibility of controlling chemical reactions by this method, but this remains controversial.

Pump–probe spectroscopy

The simplest approach and still one of the most common techniques is known as pump–probe spectroscopy

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...

. In this method, two or more optical pulses with variable time delay between them are used to investigate the processes happening during a chemical reaction. The first pulse (pump) initiates the reaction, by breaking a bond or exciting one of the reactants. The second pulse (probe) is then used to interrogate the progress of the reaction a certain period of time after initiation. As the reaction progresses, the response of the reacting system to the probe pulse will change. By continually scanning the time delay between pump and probe pulses and observing the response, workers can follow the progress of the reaction in real time.

Further reading

External links

• The 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, article on nobelprize.org
• Controlling and probing atoms and molecules with ultrafast laser pulses, PhD Thesis