Imaging molecular geometry with electron momentum spectroscopy

Electron momentum spectroscopy is a unique tool for imaging orbital-specific electron density of molecule in momentum space. However, the molecular geometry information is usually veiled due to the single-centered character of momentum space wavefunction of molecular orbital (MO). Here we demonstrate the retrieval of interatomic distances from the multicenter interference effect revealed in the ratios of electron momentum profiles between two MOs with symmetric and anti-symmetric characters. A very sensitive dependence of the oscillation period on interatomic distance is observed, which is used to determine F-F distance in CF(4) and O-O distance in CO(2) with sub-Ångström precision. Thus, using one spectrometer, and in one measurement, the electron density distributions of MOs and the molecular geometry information can be obtained simultaneously. Our approach provides a new robust tool for imaging molecules with high precision and has potential to apply to ultrafast imaging of molecular dynamics if combined with ultrashort electron pulses in the future.