Liquid-phase mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction

The conversion of light into chemical and mechanical energy mediates many important processes in nature, e.g. vision, photosynthesis and DNA photodamage. To understand the structure-function relationships regulating such processes one must strive to study them in their natural environment, i.e. in the liquid-phase. This presentation reports on the design of a novel Ultrafast Electron Diffraction instrument capable of resolving structural dynamics in liquid samples. The capabilities of this instrument are showcased in the study of water, where its structure was resolved up to the 3rd hydration shell with 0.6 A spatial resolution, and dynamics were resolved with 200 fs resolution.