Product accumulation for ultrasensitive femtochemistry

We present a novel experimental method for studying photochemical reactions that involve permanent products. The accumulation of photoproducts facilitates the measurement of extremely small product yields. A calibration of the setup accounts for diffusion effects, and the experimental results can be expressed in terms of single-pulse photochemical efficiencies. A demonstration experiment on indocyanine green (ICG) is presented. The general method is suited both for femtosecond spectroscopy and quantum control experiments.