# Gas-phase structural isomer identification by Coulomb explosion of aligned molecules

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates a method to identify gas-phase molecular isomers by using Coulomb explosion imaging combined with laser-induced alignment, enabling precise structural determination of complex molecules.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel approach combining Coulomb explosion with laser alignment to distinguish and identify isomers in the gas phase.

## Key findings

- Successfully identified four difluoroiodobenzene isomers.
- Distinguished between two difluoroiodobenzene isomers using emission angle correlations.
- Achieved structural determination of molecules via Coulomb explosion imaging.

## Abstract

The gas-phase structures of four difluoroiodobenzene and two dihydroxybromobenzene isomers were identified by correlating the emission angles of atomic fragment ions created following femtosecond laser-induced Coulomb explosion. The structural determinations were facilitated by confining the most polarizable axis of each molecule to the detection plane prior to the Coulomb explosion event using one-dimensional laser-induced adiabatic alignment. For a molecular target consisting of two difluoroiodobenzene isomers, each constituent structure could additionally be singled out and distinguished.