Interference in acetylene intersystem crossing acts as the molecular analog of Young's double-slit experiment.

We report on an experimental approach that reveals crucial details of the composition of singlet-triplet mixed eigenstates in acetylene. Intersystem crossing in this prototypical polyatomic molecule embodies the mixing of the lowest excited singlet state (S(1)) with 3 triplet states (T(1), T(2), and T(3)). Using high-energy (157-nm) photons from an F(2) laser to record excited-state photoelectron spectra, we have decomposed the mixed eigenstates into their S(1), T(3), T(2), and T(1) constituent parts. One example of the interpretive power that ensues from the selective sensitivity of the experiment to the individual electronic state characters is the discovery and examination of destructive interference between two doorway-mediated intersystem crossing pathways. This observation of an interference effect in nonradiative decay opens up possibilities for rational coherent control over molecular excited state dynamics.