School of Chemistry, Faculty of Exact Sciences
In the attoChemistry group of Dr. Fleischer we study, image and control the electronic processes accompanying chemical reactions down to the atomic scale and their natural sub-femtoseconds to attosecond timescale (one femtosecond = 10-15 seconds, one attosecond = 10-3 femtoseconds). We develop a machine (which we call “attoCamera”) capable of producing an ultrafast "movie" of real-time electronic evolution in molecules, with resolution of few attoseconds.
This is done by using short, strong laser pulses (whose instantaneous power is 20-times larger than that of the Israel Electric Corporation production capacity) capable of steering and even detaching electrons from atoms and molecules, and analyzing the energy and momentum of the resulting fragments in a special mass spectrometer.
The motivation for this research is associated with both fundamental and applied science: the motion of electrons inside and between atomic and molecular systems is at the heart of all phenomena in nature (except for nuclear processes). Specifically, the understanding of the electronic evolution in chemical reaction is the first step towards their and as such would open exciting new prospects for many research fields, e.g. in material science, life science, basic energy science, and ultrafast data storage in electrical and magnetic media.
The research uses state-of-the-art experimental and numerical methodologies from Physics and Optics, applied to the understanding of the very basic foundation of Chemistry.
Contact details:
Email: avnerfleisch@tauex.tau.ac.il
