Researchers from the Laboratory of Attosecond Physics (LAP) of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) and from the Department of Chemistry of the LMU have used light to reconfigure hydrocarbons. Using ultrashort laser pulses they removed an outer hydrogen atom from one side of a hydrocarbon molecule and directed it to the opposite side, where it rebounded. The method could be used in the future to synthesize new substances by controlling chemical reactions.
16th May 2016
Image: Alexander Gelin 
