Laser Femtochemistry

Femtochemistry is concerned with the very act of the molecular motion that brings about chemistry, chemical bond breaking, or bond formation on the femtosecond (10(-15) second) time scale. With lasers it is now possible to record snapshots of chemical reactions with sub-angstrom resolution. This strobing of the transition-state region between reagents and products provides real time observations that are fundamental to understanding the dynamics of the chemical bond.