Capturing one-dimensional precursors of a photoinduced transformation in a material.

Achieving control of photoinduced phase transitions requires understanding how materials work during transformation induced by a laser pulse. Here we investigate the precursors of a photoinduced phase transition in the highly cooperative charge-transfer molecular crystal tetrathiafulvalene-p-chloranil and provide key insights. The photogeneration of one-dimensional nanoscale clusters was detected by time-resolved diffuse x-ray scattering with 50-ps time resolution. Such clustering of structurally relaxed electronic excitations is expected to be a common process in many materials presenting photoinduced transformations.