Detecting an unexpected delay at ultrafast speed

Molecules that suddenly transform into new structures when stimulated by photons or electrons play key roles in many chemical and biological processes. Recently, chemists have discovered that adding transition metals such as copper to photo-responsive organic ligands produces materials with high solar conversion efficiencies, owing to the metal’s ready supply of light-activated electrons. But despite the interest in these substances for opto-electronic devices, their inner workings remain mostly inscrutable because the charge-transfer dynamics happen too quickly for detection by typical instruments.

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