Spatial imaging of the {H_2}^+ vibrational wave function at the quantum limit

TL;DR

This paper presents a direct experimental imaging of the vibrational wave functions of H2+ molecules, revealing their nodal structures and discussing measurement limits imposed by quantum uncertainty.

Contribution

It provides the first direct visualization of nuclear vibrational wave functions in molecules using dissociation and COLTRIMS, comparing results with quantum simulations and approximations.

Findings

Visualized vibrational wave functions and nodal structures

Compared experimental results with quantum simulations

Discussed measurement limits due to quantum uncertainty

Abstract

We experimentally obtained a direct image of the nuclear wave functions of {H_2}^+ by dissociating the molecule via electron attachment and determining the vibrational state using the COLTRIMS technique. Our experiment visualizes the nodal structure of different vibrational states. We compare our results to the widely used reflection approximation and to quantum simulations and discuss the limits of position measurements in molecules imposed by the uncertainty principle.