Free Electron Laser for the Investigation of Ultrafast Chiral Dynamics

Chirality is widespread in nature, playing a fundamental role in bio-chemical processes and in the origin of life itself [1]. The mechanisms controlling the chiral selectivity of chemical reactions have been extensively studied over many decades. However, the ultrafast mechanisms governing chiral behavior at its electronic level are still mostly unexplored and our ability to track the evolving chirality of reacting molecules remains limited. Photoelectron Circular Dichroism spectroscopy (PECD) is a highly electronic and structure sensitive technique [2]–[5] and an established tool to probe chirality on the time scale of chemical reactions [6], [7].