Plate Nº 92 · recorded October 10, 2026
PhysicsReported finding
Göttingen Team Captures Full 3D Image of a Molecule's Wavefunction
University of Göttingen researchers have produced the first full 3D image of a molecular orbital, resolving features smaller than a carbon-carbon bond, they reported in Nature Communications on August 24, 2026.
By Elena Vasquez3 min read648 words
In brief
- The University of Göttingen team published the full 3D molecular orbital image on August 24, 2026 in Nature Communications.
- The reconstruction distinguishes features smaller than the distance between adjacent carbon atoms in the test molecule.
- The setup replaces synchrotron-based 3D orbital imaging with a lab-based soft-X-ray source delivering femtosecond pulses.
- Co-leaders Professor Stefan Mathias and Dr. G. S. Matthijs Jansen jointly led the work; first author Dr. Wiebke Bennecke led the experimental reconstruction.
- The paper carries DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-74308-1 in Nature Communications volume 17, issue 1, 2026.
A team at the University of Göttingen has produced a complete three-dimensional image of a molecular orbital, resolving features smaller than the spacing between the molecule's own carbon atoms. The result, published on August 24, 2026 in Nature Communications, relies on a redesigned algorithm and a table-top soft-X-ray source that emits pulses shorter than a femtosecond — one quadrillionth of a second.
What is a molecular wavefunction?
In quantum mechanics, an electron does not sit at a single point the way a planet orbits a star. Physicists describe it instead with a "wavefunction," a mathematical object that gives the probability of finding the particle in any spot or moving in any direction.
Inside a molecule, that electron wavefunction is called a molecular orbital. Orbitals shape how a molecule absorbs light, how it bonds, and how it reacts with its neighbors.
"The wavefunction is a fundamental quantity in quantum mechanics, yet it cannot be directly observed or measured," said Professor Stefan Mathias, a senior researcher on the project.
Because the wavefunction itself stays hidden, scientists must recover it from indirect clues.
How did the team capture it?
The researchers used photoelectron spectroscopy, a method that knocks electrons out of a molecule with a flash of light and measures the momentum of those freed particles. Those momenta reveal one half of the orbital; a custom algorithm rebuilds the missing half.
The contribution was twofold, explained Dr. G. S. Matthijs Jansen, who co-led the study. The team redesigned the reconstruction algorithm "from the ground up," producing reliable 3D images from a fraction of the data used before. The experiment also ran on a powerful, lab-based soft-X-ray source that emits ultrashort pulses.
"It is the combination of these two techniques that has this remarkable impact," Jansen said.
Earlier 3D imaging required long stays at synchrotron facilities — large shared machines where electrons whirl through magnetic rings to generate intense X-ray beams. The table-top setup brings the experiment into a regular laboratory.
What did the picture show?
The target was a nanometer-sized organic molecule. The reconstruction distinguished details finer than the distance between adjacent carbon atoms, the team reported. That is sharper than the spacing that defines the molecule's own skeleton.
The first author, Dr. Wiebke Bennecke, said the timing of the pulses opens a path to movies rather than snapshots.
"This technique might mean that stroboscopic videography becomes a reality, allowing us to observe not just the shape of wavefunctions, but also to see how it changes with ultrafast, even femtosecond or one quadrillionth of a second, resolution," Bennecke said.
"We can learn how a molecule adapts to optical, electronic, or chemical changes and find new ways to control these interactions at the level of a few atoms," she added.
What could orbital movies reveal?
Stretched over time, the method could let chemists track a wavefunction as it reshapes during a chemical reaction, absorbs a photon, or switches electronic state on sub-picosecond timescales. Possible applications include:
- Probing how organic molecules absorb light, a step in designing solar cells and LEDs.
- Watching individual bonds break and form in real time during a reaction.
- Testing theories of how light-driven reactions unfold at the level of a few atoms.
How robust is the result?
The findings rest on a single demonstration molecule and on an algorithm tested against both simulated and laboratory data.
Femtosecond 3D movies remain a future goal, not a delivered product.
Critics of orbital tomography have warned that reconstruction errors can grow when a molecule's orientation is poorly controlled; the new algorithm aims to limit that risk, but independent groups have not yet replicated the work.
The paper "Table-top three-dimensional photoemission orbital tomography with a femtosecond extreme ultraviolet light source" appears in Nature Communications, volume 17, issue 1, 2026 (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-74308-1).
via uni-goettingen.de (Original)
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