title: Ultrafast spin-state photoswitching in a crystal and slower consecutive processes investigated by femtosecond optical spectroscopy and picosecond X-ray diffraction.
abstract: We report the spin state photo-switching dynamics in two polymorphs of a spin-crossover molecular complex triggered by a femtosecond laser flash, as determined by combining femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy and picosecond X-ray diffraction techniques. The light-driven transformations in the two polymorphs are compared. Combining both techniques and tracking how the X-ray data correlate with optical signals allow understanding of how electronic and structural degrees of freedom couple and play their role when the switchable molecules interact in the active crystalline medium. The study sheds light on crossing the border between femtochemistry at the molecular scale and femtoswitching at the material scale.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR 6251 UR1-CNRS, Bat 11A Campus de Beaulieu, University Rennes 1, Rennes, France. eric.collet@univ-rennes1.fr
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moisan
authors.forename: Chérif
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baldé
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bertoni
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trzop
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laulhé
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorenc
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Servol
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cailleau
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tissot
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Boillot
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coppens
authors.forename: Marylise
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buron-Le Cointe