Mainz 2026 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 5: Ultrafast Electronic Dynamics

MO 5.1: Invited Talk

Monday, March 2, 2026, 17:00–17:30, P 204

Charge migration in aromatic amino acids — •Sabine Rockenstein for the AMINO collaboration — Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY

Aromatic amino acids play pivotal roles in protein structure and function. Their prompt ionization can trigger an ultrafast charge motion between the various functional groups. At the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the enhanced self-amplified spontaneous emission (eSASE, XLEAP) configuration allows attosecond-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy of such processes with unprecedented time resolution. Site-specific measurements in a ω/2ω XLEAP scheme at the oxygen and nitrogen K edge, exploiting the high data rate available from LCLSII, enable studies of electronic dynamics and electron-nuclear coupling. This technique has been applied to phenylalanine and tryptophan, which, in previous studies with table-top attosecond sources, showed remarkably different dephasing times despite structural similarity. We discuss the experimental methods and the preliminary analysis of the collected data.

Keywords: Attosecond; Amino Acids; Spectrocopy; Free-Electron Laser