CC BY 3.0 UnportedBoll, R.Rouzée, A.Adolph, M.Anielski, D.Aquila, A.Bari, S.Bomme, C.Bostedt, C.Bozek, J.D.Chapman, H.N.Christensen, L.Coffee, R.Coppola, N.De, S.Decleva, P.Epp, S.W.Erk, B.Filsinger, F.Foucar, L.Gorkhover, T.Gumprecht, L.Hömke, A.Holmegaard, L.Johnsson, P.Kienitz, J.S.Kierspel, T.Krasniqi, F.Kühnel, K.-U.Maurer, J.Messerschmidt, M.Moshammer, R.Müller, N.L.M.Rudek, B.Savelyev, E.Schlichting, I.Schmidt, C.Scholz, F.Schorb, S.Schulz, J.Seltmann, J.Stener, M.Stern, S.Techert, S.Thøgersen, J.Trippel, S.Viefhaus, J.Vrakking, M.Stapelfeldt, H.Küpper, J.Ullrich, J.Rudenko, A.Rolles, D.2020-10-282020-10-282014https://doi.org/10.34657/4446https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/5817This paper gives an account of our progress towards performing femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules in a pump-probe setup combining optical lasers and an X-ray free-electron laser. We present results of two experiments aimed at measuring photoelectron angular distributions of laser-aligned 1-ethynyl-4-fluorobenzene (C8H5F) and dissociating, laser-aligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules and discuss them in the larger context of photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules. We also show how the strong nanosecond laser pulse used for adiabatically laser-aligning the molecules influences the measured electron and ion spectra and angular distributions, and discuss how this may affect the outcome of future time-resolved photoelectron diffraction experiments.enghttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/540femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron diffractiongas-phase moleculesoptical laserX-ray free-electron laserArticle