Femtochemistry: Ultrafast Dynamics of the Chemical Bond, Vol. 1 (World Scientific Series in 20th Century Chemistry, Vol. 3)

This is the first of two volumes which together contribute to a field central to the understanding of the dynamics of the chemical bond. This century has witnessed great strides in time and space resolutions, down to the atomic scale, providing chemists, biologists and physicists with unprecedented opportunities for seeing microscopic structures and dynamics. Femtochemistry is concerned with the time resolution of the most elementary motions of atoms during chemical change - bond breaking and bond making - on the femtosecond (10-15 second) time scale. These two volumes cover the general concepts, techniques and applications of femtochemistry. They begin with a commentary and a historical chronology of the milestones. Professor Zewail then goes on to present a broad perspective of the current state of knowledge in femtochemistry by researchers around the world and discusses possible new directions. The introductory articles in this first volume provide reviews for experts and non-experts. This is followed by papers on the basic concepts. For applications, elementary reactions are studied first and complex reactions are then examined. Volume One is complete with studies of solvation dynamics, non-reactive systems, ultrafast electron diffraction and the control of chemical reactions.