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Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Field-Induced Electron Generation in Water: Solvation Dynamics and Many-Body Interactions
Michael Woerner1, Benjamin P Fingerhut1, Thomas Elsaesser1
1Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
The solvated electron represents an elementary quantum system in a liquid environment. Electrons solvated in water have raised strong interest because of their prototypical properties, their role in radiation chemistry, and their relevance for charge separation and transport. Nonequilibrium dynamics of photogenerated electrons in water occur on ultrafast time scales and include charge transfer, localization, and energy dissipation processes. We present new insight into the role of fluctuating electric fields of the liquid for generating electrons in the presence of an external terahertz field and address polaronic many-body properties of solvated electrons. This Perspective combines a review of recent results from experiment and theory with a discussion of basic electric interactions of electrons in water.
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