Controlling the Motion of Complex Molecules and Particles (COMOTION)
Recent advances in X-ray free-electron laser have enabled the observation of near-atomic-resolution structures in diff raction before-destruction experiments, for instance, of i solated mimiviruses and of proteins from microscopic crystals. The goal to record molecular movies with spatial and temporal atomic-resolution (femtoseconds and picometers) o n individual molecules is near. Furthermore, the investigation of ultrafast, sub-femtosecond electron dynamics in small molecules is providing first results. Its extension to large molecules promises the unraveling of charge migration and energy transport in complex (bio)molecular systems. Novel matter-wave experiments with l arge molecules are testing the limits of quantum mechanics, particle-wave duality, and coherence. Extending these metrology experiments to larger systems will widen our understanding of the underlying physics whilst also allowing the precise measurement of molecular properties.
The principal obstacle for these and similar experiments across the molecular sciences is the controlled production of identical samples of individual molecules in the gas phase
Within the COMOTION project we focus our research efforts on
Cold and controlled large molecules
Efforts on creating controlled samples for ideal single-particle-diffraction experiments: High-density, shockfrozen, laser-aligned native-structure samples of biological macromolecules
Optically Controlled Particles
Approaches for the production of purified high-density beams of a broad variety of biological nanoparticles and establish control through electric fields and optical fields from a laser.
Freeze-and-deposit sample delivery
Development of a novel, disruptive sample-preparation approach for cryo-electron microscopy
Diffractive Imaging
Imaging and reconstruction of the three-dimensional molecular structure of isolated (biological) molecules and nanoparticles at atomic resolution.
Novel molecule sources
Methodologies to vaporise large (bio)molecules and particles and efficiently inject them into vacuum for further manipulation.
Most relevant funding
Funded through an ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-CoG 614507-COMOTION)