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Electrons frozen in motion

A single electron cloud in molecular nitrogen has been photographed. The snapshot is recorded so rapidly that it might become possible to image electron clouds as they change during fundamental molecular processes.

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Figure 1: Laser imaging of the three-lobed electron cloud (orbital) of molecular nitrogen.

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Stapelfeldt, H. Electrons frozen in motion. Nature 432, 809–810 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/432809a

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