On the feasibility of imaging molecules using infrared laser pulses

Electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are the conventional methods for imaging molecules to achieve spatial resolution of better than sub-Angstroms. When studying chemical and biological transformations it is desirable to address their change with time, with required temporal resolution of a few to tens of femtoseconds. To reach temporal resolution down to a few femtoseconds with usable intensities, only few-cycle infrared lasers are available today. In this talk I will discuss the feasability of imaging the time-dependent rearrangement of molecules, using the high-order harmonic radiations as well as the photoelectron momentum spectra generated by infrared lasers.