Coulomb-explosion imaging using a pixel-imaging mass-spectrometry camera

Femtosecond laser-induced Coulomb-explosion imaging of 3,5-dibromo-3′,5′-difluoro-4′-cyanobiphenyl molecules prealigned in space is explored using a pixel-imaging mass-spectrometry (PImMS) camera. The fast-event-triggered camera allows the concurrent detection of the correlated two-dimensional momentum images, or covariance maps, of all the ionic fragments resulting from fragmentation of multiple molecules in each acquisition cycle. Detailed simulation of the covariance maps reveals that they provide rich information about the parent molecular structure and fragmentation dynamics. Future opportunities for imaging the real-time dynamics of intramolecular processes are considered.