Advances in Diffraction Studies of Light-Induced Transient Species in Molecular Crystals and Selected Complementary Techniques

The review provides a summary of the current methods of tracing photoexcitation processes and structural dynamics in the solid state, putting major emphasis on the X-ray diffraction techniques (time-resolved Laue diffraction on synchrotron sources and time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography on X-ray free-electron lasers). The recent developments and nowadays experimental possibilities in the field are discussed along with the data processing and analysis approaches, and illustrated with some striking literature examples of the respective successful studies. Selected complementary methods, such as ultrafast electron diffraction or time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy, are briefly presented.

Automated summary

This review provides an overview of methods for tracing photoexcitation processes and structural dynamics in the solid state, with a focus on X-ray diffraction techniques. The recent developments and experimental possibilities in the field are discussed, along with data processing and analysis approaches, and illustrated with examples of successful studies. Additionally, selected complementary methods such as ultrafast electron diffraction or time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy are briefly presented.