Reconstruction of two-dimensional molecular structure with laser-induced electron diffraction from laser-aligned polyatomic molecules

Imaging the transient process of molecules has been a basic way to investigate photochemical reactions and dynamics. Based on laser-induced electron diffraction and partial one-dimensional molecular alignment, here we provide two effective methods for reconstructing two-dimensional structure of polyatomic molecules. We demonstrate that electron diffraction images in both scattering angles and broadband energy can be utilized to retrieve complementary structure information, including positions of light atoms. With picometre spatial resolution and the inherent femtosecond temporal resolution of lasers, laser-induced electron diffraction method offers significant opportunities for probing atomic motion in a large molecule in a typical pump-probe measurement.