Time Resolved Crystallography

单晶X射线衍射是测定固态分子材料三维结构的最有效方法。然而，它一直被视为一种基态，时间平均的分析方法，不能提供分子在进行化学或光化学反应时的信息。该项目旨在改变这种状况，并将时间的第四维引入衍射实验，以便在分子经历光化学活化时确定分子的结构，并看到寿命为几微秒或更少的物种。使用这种技术，可以制作分子电影并观看分子几何形状的变化，在三维空间中，随着化学过程的发生。为了一次成功的承接解决（光晶体学）实验需要用脉冲激光泵浦晶体，并用同步加速器的X射线束同步探测晶体，从而获得激发态结构。这有可能成为理解光电材料激活时发生的过程的非常重要的技术，并可能有助于设计新的智能材料。

Single crystal X-ray diffraction is the most powerful method available for determining the three dimensional structure of molecular materials in the solid state. However, it has always been viewed as a ground state, time averaged method of analysis that does not give information on what molecules look like when they are undergoing a chemical or photochemical reaction. This project sets out to change this situation, and introduce the 4th dimension of time into diffraction experiments so that it will be possible to determine the structure of molecules as they undergo a photochemical activation and see species that have lifetimes of a few microseconds of less. Using this technique it will be possible to make a molecular movie and watch molecular geometries change, in three dimensions, as the chemical process occurs. In order to undertake a successful time resolved (photocrystallographic) experiment it is necessary to pump the crystal with a pulsed laser and probe it with an X-ray beam from a synchrotron in a synchronised fashion so that the excited state structure is obtained.This has the potential to be a very important technique for understanding the processes that occur in opto-electronic materials when they are activated, and may help in the designe of new smart materials.