Researchers in Japan have captured an extraordinarily fast electronic transformation inside a metal-organic framework, observing a fleeting state and the hidden state that followed within just 30 femtoseconds. The team from Science Tokyo, Tohoku University, and Nagoya Institute of Technology combined ultrafast laser spectroscopy with theoretical calculations to uncover a previously unknown intermediate electronic state that helps drive the transformation. The discovery offers new clues about how light could eventually be used to rapidly control the properties of advanced materials.
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