Our team develops and applies ultrafast electron sources to access molecular structure and dynamical phenomena with atomic spatial resolution. We can literally see atoms move!

Ultrashort and ultrabright electron bursts for time-resolved diffraction.

In ultrafast electron diffraction a femtosecond (fs) optical pulse excites the sample and an ultrashort electron bunch probes the photoinduced structural changes. The atomic motions are recorded by time-delaying diffraction patterns with respect to the “clocking” excitation pulse. This technique builds on the concept of stop-motion photography, which dates back to 1870.

Coherent electron sources for high-resolution single biomolecule imaging.

Ultrafast electron sources are being developed to perform high-resolution electron imaging of single proteins and aperiodic systems.