Ultrafast Coherent Control and Characterization of Surface Reactions using FELs

The microscopic understanding of reactions at surfaces requires an in-depth knowledge of the dynamics of elementary processes on an ultrafast timescale. This can be accomplished using an ultrafast excitation to initiate a chemical reaction and then probe the progression of the reaction with an ultrashort x-ray pulse from the FEL. There is a great potential to use atom-specific spectroscopy involving core levels to probe the chemical nature, structure and bonding of species on surfaces. The ultrashort electron pulse obtained in the linear accelerator to feed the X-ray FEL can also be used for generation of coherent synchrotron radiation in the low energy THz regime to be used as a pump. This radiation has an energy close to the thermal excitations of low-energy vibrational modes of molecules on surfaces and phonons in substrates. The coherent THz radiation will be an electric field pulse with a certain direction that can collectively manipulate atoms or molecules on surfaces. In this respect a chemical reaction can be initiated by collective atomic motion along a specific reaction coordinate. If the coherent THz radiation is generated from the same source as the X-ray FEL radiation, full-time synchronization for pump-probe experiments will be possible. The combination of THz and X-ray spectroscopy could be a unique opportunity for FEL facilities to conduct ultrafast chemistry studies at surfaces