Short electron pulses make it possible to observe a structural change in a complex molecule as if watching a film

Chemistry is now ready for the movies: an international team which includes researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg has used a type of molecular camera to follow a fast-moving ballet performed by atoms in molecules as they change their structure. The researchers use a comparatively compact, efficient and low-cost technology for the detailed and slow-motion observation of how the miniscule atoms move at a molecular transition in a complex mate