Ultrafast electron diffraction

The diffraction signal is, subsequently, detected by an electron counting instrument such as a charge-coupled device camera.

Ultrafast electron diffraction can provide a wealth of dynamics on charge carriers, atoms, and molecules.

Generating high-flux ultrashort electron beams has been relatively straightforward, but pulse duration below a picosecond proved extremely difficult due to space-charge effects.

Radio-frequency (RF) compression has emerged has an leading method of reducing the pulse expansion in ultrafast electron diffraction experiments, achieving temporal resolution well below 50 femtoseconds.

[6] Shorter electron beams below 10 femtoseconds are ultimately required to probe the fastest dynamics in solid state materials and observe gas phase molecular reactions.

[8] When studying reversible process, especially weak signals caused by, e.g., thermal diffuse scattering, a diffraction pattern is accumulated from many electron bunches, as many as

[10] High reciprocal space resolution allows for the detection of Bragg diffraction spots that correspond to long periodicity phenomena.

Temporal resolution is primarily a function of the bunch length of the electrons and the relative timing jitters between the pump and probe.