Pump-Probe technique – Centre for Molecular Movies

Home
Resize Print Bookmark and Share

CMM > Methods > Pump-Probe technique

Pump-Probe technique

The general idea behind the pump-probe method is as follows:

  1. Bring the sample into a state, the time evolution of which is to be investigated. This is done by the pump-pulse at t=0
  2. Wait until a time t1 Δt later and send in a probe pulse
  3. Record the sample´s interaction with the probe pulse
  4. Repeat for a new time step t2Δt later

By combining a range of time steps spaced e.g. 100 ps apart, it is then possible to create a “Molecular Movie” of extremely fast phenomena on the scale of individual molecules. The “story line” of the movie can be either the energy evolution of the system if the probe is a laser pulse or the structural evolution if the probe is an X-ray pulse.