Direct observation of bond formations
Thursday, February 19, 2015 - 14:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Direct "observation" of the bond making, through a chemical reaction, has been longstanding dream for chemists. However, the distance between atoms is very small, at about 100 picometer, and the bonding is completed very quickly, taking less than one picosecond (ps). Hence, previously, one could only imagine the bond formation between atoms while looking at the chemical reaction progressing in the test-tube. In this research, scientists directly observed a very fast chemical reaction, induced by photo-excitation.