title: Ground state potential energy surfaces around selected atoms from resonant inelastic x-ray scattering.
abstract: Thermally driven chemistry as well as materials' functionality are determined by the potential energy surface of a systems electronic ground state. This makes the potential energy surface a central and powerful concept in physics, chemistry and materials science. However, direct experimental access to the potential energy surface locally around atomic centers and to its long-range structure are lacking. Here we demonstrate how sub-natural linewidth resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering at vibrational resolution is utilized to determine ground state potential energy surfaces locally and detect long-range changes of the potentials that are driven by local modifications. We show how the general concept is applicable not only to small isolated molecules such as O2 but also to strongly interacting systems such as the hydrogen bond network in liquid water. The weak perturbation to the potential energy surface through hydrogen bonding is observed as a trend towards softening of the ground state potential around the coordinating atom. The instrumental developments in high resolution resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering are currently accelerating and will enable broad application of the presented approach. With this multidimensional potential energy surfaces that characterize collective phenomena such as (bio)molecular function or high-temperature superconductivity will become accessible in near future.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.|Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24/25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schreck
authors.affiliation: Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietzsch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Max IV Laboratory, Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Conny
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Såthe
authors.affiliation: Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Piter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Miedema
authors.affiliation: FS-Structural Dynamics in (Bio)chemistry, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Faß berg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.|Institute for X-ray Physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Techert
authors.affiliation: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Vladimir N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Strocov
authors.affiliation: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Max IV Laboratory, Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hennies
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan-Erik
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rubensson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Methods and Instrumentation for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.|Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24/25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Föhlisch
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