Spatiotemporal imaging of valence electron motion

Electron motion on the (sub-)femtosecond time scale constitutes the fastest response in many natural phenomena such as light-induced phase transitions and chemical reactions. Whereas static electron densities in single molecules can be imaged in real space using scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscopy, probing real-time electron motion inside molecules requires ultrafast laser pulses. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical approach to imaging an ultrafast valence electron wave packet in real time with a time-resolution of a few femtoseconds. We employ a pump-probe-deflect scheme that allows us to prepare an ultrafast wave packet via strong-field ionization and directly image the resulting charge oscillations in the residual ion. This approach extends and overcomes limitations in laser-induced orbital imaging and may enable the real-time imaging of electron dynamics following photoionization such as charge migration and charge transfer processes.