The hydrated electron, a bound state of an electron in water, is of fundamental importance in nature and has been the subject of intense research for many decades. Due to its high reactivity, the hydrated electron plays a crucial role in cellular biology and radiation chemistry. However, the structure and properties of the hydrated electron still remains elusive. Recently, an international collaboration with the participation of Marcel Mudrich and Mykola Shcherbinin from IFA succeeded in tracing the formation of the hydrated electron in real time using tunable, extreme ultraviolet femtosecond pulses from a free electron laser [Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 133001 (2019)]. In this way, the initial steps of the hydration process and of competing channels were observed.

The paper was published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 133001 (2019) titled: Real-Time Dynamics of the Formation of Hydrated Electrons upon Irradiation of Water Clusters with Extreme Ultraviolet Light