| 1. |
- Beye, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Chemical Bond Activation Observed with an X-ray Laser
- 2016
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In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 7:18, s. 3647-3651
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The concept of bonding and antibonding orbitals is fundamental in chemistry. The population of those orbitals and the energetic difference between the two reflect the strength of the bonding interaction. Weakening the bond is expected to reduce this energetic splitting, but the transient character of bond-activation has so far prohibited direct experimental access. Here we apply time-resolved soft X-ray spectroscopy at a free electron laser to directly observe the decreased bonding antibonding splitting following bond-activation using an ultrashort optical laser pulse.
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| 2. |
- Dakovski, Georgi L., et al.
(author)
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Anomalous femtosecond quasiparticle dynamics of hidden order state in URu(2)Si(2)
- 2011
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In: Physical Review B. Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. - 1098-0121 .- 1550-235X. ; 84:16, s. 161103-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- At T(0) = 17.5 K an exotic phase emerges from a heavy fermion state in URu(2)Si(2). The nature of this hidden order (HO) phase has so far evaded explanation. Formation of an unknown quasiparticle (QP) structure is believed to be responsible for the massive removal of entropy at the HO transition, however, experiments and ab initio calculations have been unable to reveal the essential character of the QP. Here we use femtosecond pump-probe time-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-ARPES) to elucidate the ultrafast dynamics of the QP. We show how the Fermi surface is renormalized by shifting states away from the Fermi level at specific locations, characterized by vector q(< 110 >) = 0.56 +/- 0.08 angstrom(-1). Measurements of the temperature-time response reveal that, upon entering the HO, the QP lifetime in those locations increases from 42 fs to few hundred fs. The formation of the long-lived QPs is identified here as a principal actor of the HO.
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| 3. |
- Higley, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond X-ray induced changes of the electronic and magnetic response of solids from electron redistribution
- 2019
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In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Resonant X-ray absorption, where an X-ray photon excites a core electron into an unoccupied valence state, is an essential process in many standard X-ray spectroscopies. With increasing X-ray intensity, the X-ray absorption strength is expected to become nonlinear. Here, we report the onset of such a nonlinearity in the resonant X-ray absorption of magnetic Co/Pd multilayers near the Co L-3 edge. The nonlinearity is directly observed through the change of the absorption spectrum, which is modified in less than 40 fs within 2 eV of its threshold. This is interpreted as a redistribution of valence electrons near the Fermi level. For our magnetic sample this also involves mixing of majority and minority spins, due to sample demagnetization. Our findings reveal that nonlinear X-ray responses of materials may already occur at relatively low intensities, where the macroscopic sample is not destroyed, providing insight into ultrafast charge and spin dynamics.
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| 4. |
- Higley, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Stimulated resonant inelastic X-ray scattering in a solid
- 2022
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In: Communications Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3650. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When materials are exposed to X-ray pulses with sufficiently high intensity, various nonlinear effects can occur. The most fundamental one consists of stimulated electronic decays after resonant absorption of X-rays. Such stimulated decays enhance the number of emitted photons and the emission direction is confined to that of the stimulating incident photons which clone themselves in the process. Here we report the observation of stimulated resonant elastic (REXS) and inelastic (RIXS) X-ray scattering near the cobalt L3 edge in solid Co/Pd multilayer samples. We observe an enhancement of order 106 of the stimulated over the conventional spontaneous RIXS signal into the small acceptance angle of the RIXS spectrometer. We also find that in solids both stimulated REXS and RIXS spectra contain contributions from inelastic electron scattering processes, even for ultrashort 5 fs pulses. Our results reveal the potential and caveats of the development of stimulated RIXS in condensed matter.
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| 5. |
- Jay, Raphael, et al.
(author)
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Following Metal-to-Ligand Charge-Transfer Dynamics with Ligand and Spin Specificity Using Femtosecond Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the Nitrogen K-Edge
- 2021
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In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 12:28, s. 6676-6683
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate for the case of photoexcited [Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)(3)](2+) how femtosecond resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the ligand K-edge allows one to uniquely probe changes in the valence electronic structure following a metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation. Metal-ligand hybridization is probed by nitrogen-1s resonances providing information on both the electron-accepting ligand in the MLCT state and the hole density of the metal center. By comparing to spectrum calculations based on density functional theory, we are able to distinguish the electronic structure of the electron-accepting ligand and the other ligands and determine a temporal upper limit of (250 +/- 40) fs for electron localization following the charge-transfer excitation. The spin of the localized electron is deduced from the selection rules of the RIXS process establishing new experimental capabilities for probing transient charge and spin densities.
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| 6. |
- Jay, Raphael M., et al.
(author)
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Disentangling Transient Charge Density and Metal-Ligand Covalency in Photoexcited Ferricyanide with Femtosecond Resonant Inelastic Soft X-ray Scattering
- 2018
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In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 9:12, s. 3538-3543
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soft X-ray spectroscopies are ideal probes of the local valence electronic structure of photocatalytically active metal sites. Here, we apply the selectivity of time resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the iron L-edge to the transient charge distribution of an optically excited charge-transfer state in aqueous ferricyanide. Through comparison to steady-state spectra and quantum chemical calculations, the coupled effects of valence-shell closing and ligand-hole creation are experimentally and theoretically disentangled and described in terms of orbital occupancy, metal-ligand covalency, and ligand field splitting, thereby extending established steady-state concepts to the excited-state domain. pi-Back-donation is found to be mainly determined by the metal site occupation, whereas the ligand hole instead influences sigma-donation. Our results demonstrate how ultrafast resonant inelastic X-ray scattering can help characterize local charge distributions around catalytic metal centers in short-lived charge-transfer excited states, as a step toward future rationalization and tailoring of photocatalytic capabilities of transition-metal complexes.
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| 7. |
- Kubin, Markus, et al.
(author)
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Soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy of metalloproteins and high-valent metal-complexes at room temperature using free-electron lasers
- 2017
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In: Structural Dynamics. - : AMER INST PHYSICS. - 2329-7778. ; 4:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the L-edge of 3d transition metals provides unique information on the local metal charge and spin states by directly probing 3d-derived molecular orbitals through 2p-3d transitions. However, this soft x-ray technique has been rarely used at synchrotron facilities for mechanistic studies of metalloenzymes due to the difficulties of x-ray-induced sample damage and strong background signals from light elements that can dominate the low metal signal. Here, we combine femtosecond soft x-ray pulses from a free-electron laser with a novel x-ray fluorescence-yield spectrometer to overcome these difficulties. We present L-edge absorption spectra of inorganic high-valent Mn complexes (Mn similar to 6-15 mmol/l) with no visible effects of radiation damage. We also present the first L-edge absorption spectra of the oxygen evolving complex (Mn4CaO5) in Photosystem II (Mn < 1 mmol/l) at room temperature, measured under similar conditions. Our approach opens new ways to study metalloenzymes under functional conditions. (C) 2017 Author(s).
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| 8. |
- Le Guyader, Loïc, et al.
(author)
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State-resolved ultrafast charge and spin dynamics in [Co/Pd] multilayers
- 2022
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In: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 120:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We use transient absorption spectroscopy with circularly polarized x rays to detect laser-excited hole states below the Fermi level and compare their dynamics with that of unoccupied states above the Fermi level in ferromagnetic [Co/Pd] multilayers. While below the Fermi level, an instantaneous and significantly stronger demagnetization is observed, above the Fermi level, the demagnetization is delayed by 35 ± 10 fs. This provides a direct visualization of how ultrafast demagnetization proceeds via initial spin-flip scattering of laser-excited holes to the subsequent formation of spin waves.
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| 9. |
- Parchenko, Sergii, et al.
(author)
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Orbital dynamics during an ultrafast insulator to metal transition
- 2020
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In: Physical Review Research. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2643-1564. ; 2:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present ultrafast resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments performed at the vanadium L edge to track changes in the electronic structure of V2O3, a classical Mott-Hubbard material. The probed orbital excitations within the d shell of the V ion show a sub-ps time response, which evolves at later times to a state that appears electronically indistinguishable from the high-temperature metallic state. For low excitation fluences, a transient recovery or delay is observed, which could be related to a transient dimerization of the V-V bonds. Our results demonstrate the great potential for RIXS spectroscopy to study the ultrafast orbital dynamics in strongly correlated materials.
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| 10. |
- Schreck, Simon, et al.
(author)
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Reabsorption of Soft X-Ray Emission at High X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Fluences
- 2014
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 113:15, s. 153002-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on oxygen K-edge soft x-ray emission spectroscopy from a liquid water jet at the Linac Coherent Light Source. We observe significant changes in the spectral content when tuning over a wide range of incident x-ray fluences. In addition the total emission yield decreases at high fluences. These modifications result from reabsorption of x-ray emission by valence-excited molecules generated by the Auger cascade. Our observations have major implications for future x-ray emission studies at intense x-ray sources. We highlight the importance of the x-ray pulse length with respect to the core-hole lifetime.
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