New X-Ray Imaging Shows a Buckyball Breaking Apart in Real Time

FEL X-ray pulses captured the rapid reshaping and fragmentation of C60 molecules exposed to increasingly strong laser fields. The results expose gaps in current theoretical models and point toward new pathways for controlling molecular behavior with light. Revealing Many-Body Molecular Dynamics With Intense X-Ray Pulses A clear grasp of how many interacting particles behave inside [...]