1. |
- Fukuzawa, Hironobu, et al.
(author)
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Real-time observation of X-ray-induced intramolecular and interatomic electronic decay in CH2I2
- 2019
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The increasing availability of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has catalyzed the development of single-object structural determination and of structural dynamics tracking in real-time. Disentangling the molecular-level reactions triggered by the interaction with an XFEL pulse is a fundamental step towards developing such applications. Here we report real-time observations of XFEL-induced electronic decay via short-lived transient electronic states in the diiodomethane molecule, using a femtosecond near-infrared probe laser. We determine the lifetimes of the transient states populated during the XFEL-induced Auger cascades and find that multiply charged iodine ions are issued from short-lived (∼20 fs) transient states, whereas the singly charged ones originate from significantly longer-lived states (∼100 fs). We identify the mechanisms behind these different time scales: contrary to the short-lived transient states which relax by molecular Auger decay, the long-lived ones decay by an interatomic Coulombic decay between two iodine atoms, during the molecular fragmentation. © 2019, The Author(s).
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2. |
- Callegari, Carlo, et al.
(author)
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Application of matched-filter concepts to unbiased selection of data in pump-probe experiments with free electron lasers
- 2017
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In: Applied Sciences (Switzerland). - : MDPI AG. - 2076-3417. ; 7:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pump-probe experiments are commonly used at Free Electron Lasers (FEL) to elucidate the femtosecond dynamics of atoms, molecules, clusters, liquids and solids. Maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements is often a primary need of the experiment, and the aggregation of repeated, rapid, scans of the pump-probe delay is preferable to a single long-lasting scan. The limited availability of beamtime makes it impractical to repeat measurements indiscriminately, and the large, rapid flow of single-shot data that need to be processed and aggregated into a dataset, makes it difficult to assess the quality of a measurement in real time. In post-analysis it is then necessary to devise unbiased criteria to select or reject datasets, and to assign the weight with which they enter the analysis. One such case was the measurement of the lifetime of Intermolecular Coulombic Decay in the weakly-bound neon dimer. We report on the method we used to accomplish this goal for the pump-probe delay scans that constitute the core of the measurement; namely we report on the use of simple auto- and cross-correlation techniques based on the general concept of "matched filter". We are able to unambiguously assess the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each scan, which then becomes the weight with which a scan enters the average of multiple scans. We also observe a clear gap in the values of SNR, and we discard all the scans below a SNR of 0.45. We are able to generate an average delay scan profile, suitable for further analysis: in our previous work we used it for comparison with theory. Here we argue that the method is sufficiently simple and devoid of human action to be applicable not only in post-analysis, but also for the real-time assessment of the quality of a dataset.
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3. |
- Fuller, Franklin D., et al.
(author)
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Resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy from broadband stochastic pulses at an X-ray free electron laser
- 2021
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In: Communications Chemistry. - : Springer Nature. - 2399-3669. ; 4:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray absorption and X-ray free electron lasers are important tools to study chemical and structural dynamics, but spectral details like pre-edge features are inherently hard to detect. Here, the authors show that stochastic spectroscopy can yield similar spectral information to monochromatic spectroscopies, while increasing signal yield and reducing acquisition time. Hard X-ray spectroscopy is an element specific probe of electronic state, but signals are weak and require intense light to study low concentration samples. Free electron laser facilities offer the highest intensity X-rays of any available light source. The light produced at such facilities is stochastic, with spikey, broadband spectra that change drastically from shot to shot. Here, using aqueous ferrocyanide, we show that the resonant X-ray emission (RXES) spectrum can be inferred by correlating for each shot the fluorescence intensity from the sample with spectra of the fluctuating, self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) source. We obtain resolved narrow and chemically rich information in core-to-valence transitions of the pre-edge region at the Fe K-edge. Our approach avoids monochromatization, provides higher photon flux to the sample, and allows non-resonant signals like elastic scattering to be simultaneously recorded. The spectra obtained match well with spectra measured using a monochromator. We also show that inaccurate measurements of the stochastic light spectra reduce the measurement efficiency of our approach.
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4. |
- Kumagai, Yoshiaki, et al.
(author)
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Suppression of thermal nanoplasma emission in clusters strongly ionized by hard x-rays
- 2021
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In: Journal of Physics B. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 54:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using electron and ion spectroscopy, we studied the electron and nuclear dynamics in similar to 50 000-atom large krypton clusters, following excitation with an intense hard x-ray pulse. Beyond the single pulse experiment, we also present the results of a time-resolved, x-ray pump-near-infrared probe measurement that allows one to learn about the time evolution of the system. After core ionization of the atoms by x-ray photons, trapped Auger and secondary electrons form a nanoplasma in which the krypton ions are embedded, according to the already published scenario. While the ion data show expected features, the electron emission spectra miss the expected pump-probe delay-dependent enhancement except for a slight enhancement in the energy range below 2 eV. Theoretical simulations help to reveal that, due to the deep trapping potential of the ions during the long time expansion accompanied by electron-ion recombination, thermal emission from the transient nanoplasma becomes quenched.
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5. |
- You, Daehyun, et al.
(author)
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Multi-particle momentum correlations extracted using covariance methods on multiple-ionization of diiodomethane molecules by soft-X-ray free-electron laser pulses
- 2020
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In: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9084 .- 1463-9076. ; 22:5, s. 2648-2659
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Momenta of ions from diiodomethane molecules after multiple ionization by soft-X-ray free-electron-laser pulses are measured. Correlations between the ion momenta are extracted by covariance methods formulated for the use in multiparticle momentum-resolved ion time-of-flight spectroscopy. Femtosecond dynamics of the dissociating multiply charged diiodomethane cations is discussed and interpreted by using simulations based on a classical Coulomb explosion model including charge evolution.
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