| 1. |
- Nelson, A. J., et al.
(author)
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Soft x-ray free electron laser microfocus for exploring matter under extreme conditions
- 2009
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 17:20, s. 18271-18278
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have focused a beam (BL3) of FLASH (Free-electron LASer in Hamburg: lambda = 13.5 nm, pulse length 15 fs, pulse energy 10-40 mu J, 5Hz) using a fine polished off-axis parabola having a focal length of 270 mm and coated with a Mo/Si multilayer with an initial reflectivity of 67% at 13.5 nm. The OAP was mounted and aligned with a picomotor controlled six-axis gimbal. Beam imprints on poly(methyl methacrylate) -PMMA were used to measure focus and the focused beam was used to create isochoric heating of various slab targets. Results show the focal spot has a diameter of <= 1 mu m. Observations were correlated with simulations of best focus to provide further relevant information.
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| 2. |
- Boutet, S., et al.
(author)
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High-Resolution Protein Structure Determination by Serial Femtosecond Crystallography
- 2012
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 337:6092, s. 362-364
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Structure determination of proteins and other macromolecules has historically required the growth of high-quality crystals sufficiently large to diffract x-rays efficiently while withstanding radiation damage. We applied serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) using an x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to obtain high-resolution structural information from microcrystals (less than 1 micrometer by 1 micrometer by 3 micrometers) of the well-characterized model protein lysozyme. The agreement with synchrotron data demonstrates the immediate relevance of SFX for analyzing the structure of the large group of difficult-to-crystallize molecules.
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| 3. |
- Gaffney, K J, et al.
(author)
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Observation of structural anisotropy and the onset of liquidlike motion during the nonthermal melting of InSb
- 2005
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In: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 95:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The melting dynamics of laser excited InSb have been studied with femtosecond x-ray diffraction. These measurements observe the delayed onset of diffusive atomic motion, signaling the appearance of liquidlike dynamics. They also demonstrate that the root-mean-squared displacement in the [111] direction increases faster than in the [110] direction after the first 500 fs. This structural anisotropy indicates that the initially generated fluid differs significantly from the equilibrium liquid.
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| 4. |
- Hajkova, V., et al.
(author)
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X-ray laser-induced ablation of lead compounds
- 2011
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In: DAMAGE TO VUV, EUV, AND X-RAY OPTICS III. - : SPIE.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The recent commissioning of a X-ray free-electron laser triggered an extensive research in the area of X-ray ablation of high-Z, high-density materials. Such compounds should be used to shorten an effective attenuation length for obtaining clean ablation imprints required for the focused beam analysis. Compounds of lead (Z=82) represent the materials of first choice. In this contribution, single-shot ablation thresholds are reported for PbWO(4) and PbI(2) exposed to ultra-short pulses of extreme ultraviolet radiation and X-rays at FLASH and LCLS facilities, respectively. Interestingly, the threshold reaches only 0.11 J/cm(2) at 1.55 nm in lead tungstate although a value of 0.4 J/cm(2) is expected according to the wavelength dependence of an attenuation length and the threshold value determined in the XUV spectral region, i.e., 79 mJ/cm(2) at a FEL wavelength of 13.5 nm. Mechanisms of ablation processes are discussed to explain this discrepancy. Lead iodide shows at 1.55 nm significantly lower ablation threshold than tungstate although an attenuation length of the radiation is in both materials quite the same. Lower thermal and radiation stability of PbI(2) is responsible for this finding.
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| 5. |
- Thomas, H., et al.
(author)
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Explosions of Xenon Clusters in Ultraintense Femtosecond X-Ray Pulses from the LCLS Free Electron Laser
- 2012
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 108:13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Explosions of large Xe clusters (< N > similar to 11 000) irradiated by femtosecond pulses of 850 eV x-ray photons focused to an intensity of up to 1017 W/cm(2) from the Linac Coherent Light Source were investigated experimentally. Measurements of ion charge-state distributions and energy spectra exhibit strong evidence for the formation of a Xe nanoplasma in the intense x-ray pulse. This x-ray produced Xe nanoplasma is accompanied by a three-body recombination and hydrodynamic expansion. These experimental results appear to be consistent with a model in which a spherically exploding nanoplasma is formed inside the Xe cluster and where the plasma temperature is determined by photoionization heating.
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| 6. |
- Timneanu, Nicusor, et al.
(author)
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Fragmentation of clusters and recombination induced by intense and ultrashort X-ray laser pulses
- 2013
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In: Damage To Vuv, Euv, And X-Ray Optics Iv; And Euv And X-Ray Optics. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the ultrafast dynamics of matter under extreme conditions is relevant for structural studies and plasma physics with X-ray lasers. We used the pulses from free-electron lasers (FLASH in Hamburg and LCLS in Stanford) to trigger X-ray induced explosions in atomic atoms (Xe) and molecular clusters (CH4 and CD4). The explosion dynamics depends on cluster size and the intensity of the X-ray pulse, and a transition from Coulomb explosion to hydrodynamic expansion is expected with increasing size and increasing pulse intensity. In methane clusters experiments at FLASH, the time-of-flight spectrometry shows the appearance of molecular adducts which are the result of molecular recombination between ions and molecules. The recombination depends on the cluster size and the expansion mechanism and becomes significant in larger clusters. In Xenon cluster experiments at the LCLS, measurements of the ion charge states in clusters suggest a formation of Xe nanoplasma which expands hydrodynamically. The dominance of low charge states of Xe is due to three-body recombination processes involving electron and Xe ions, and it depends on the X-ray intensity and nanoplasma formation.
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| 7. |
- Barty, A., et al.
(author)
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Self-terminating diffraction gates femtosecond X-ray nanocrystallography measurements
- 2012
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In: Nature Photonics. - 1749-4885 .- 1749-4893. ; 6:1, s. 35-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray free-electron lasers have enabled new approaches to the structural determination of protein crystals that are too small or radiation-sensitive for conventional analysis1. For sufficiently short pulses, diffraction is collected before significant changes occur to the sample, and it has been predicted that pulses as short as 10 fs may be required to acquire atomic-resolution structural information1, 2, 3, 4. Here, we describe a mechanism unique to ultrafast, ultra-intense X-ray experiments that allows structural information to be collected from crystalline samples using high radiation doses without the requirement for the pulse to terminate before the onset of sample damage. Instead, the diffracted X-rays are gated by a rapid loss of crystalline periodicity, producing apparent pulse lengths significantly shorter than the duration of the incident pulse. The shortest apparent pulse lengths occur at the highest resolution, and our measurements indicate that current X-ray free-electron laser technology5 should enable structural determination from submicrometre protein crystals with atomic resolution.
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| 8. |
- Lindenberg, AM, et al.
(author)
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Atomic-scale visualization of inertial dynamics
- 2005
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 1095-9203 .- 0036-8075. ; 308:5720, s. 392-395
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The motion of atoms on interatomic potential energy surfaces is fundamental to the dynamics of liquids and solids. An accelerator-based source of femtosecond x-ray pulses allowed us to follow directly atomic displacements on an optically modified energy landscape, leading eventually to the transition from crystalline solid to disordered liquid. We show that, to first order in time, the dynamics are inertial, and we place constraints on the shape and curvature of the transition-state potential energy surface. Our measurements point toward analogies between this nonequilibrium phase transition and the short-time dynamics intrinsic to equilibrium liquids.
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| 9. |
- Andersen, JR, et al.
(author)
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Small-x phenomenology - summary and status 2002
- 2004
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In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 35:1, s. 67-98
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A second workshop on small-x physics, within the Small-x Collaboration, was held in Lund in June 2002 with the aim of over-viewing recent theoretical progress in this area and summarizing the experimental status.
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| 10. |
- Andreasson, Jakob, et al.
(author)
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Saturated ablation in metal hydrides and acceleration of protons and deuterons to keV energies with a soft-x-ray laser
- 2011
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In: Physical Review E. Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. - 1539-3755 .- 1550-2376. ; 83:1, s. 016403-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of materials under extreme conditions have relevance to a broad area of research, including planetary physics, fusion research, materials science, and structural biology with x-ray lasers. We study such extreme conditions and experimentally probe the interaction between ultrashort soft x-ray pulses and solid targets (metals and their deuterides) at the FLASH free-electron laser where power densities exceeding 1017 W/cm2 were reached. Time-of-flight ion spectrometry and crater analysis were used to characterize the interaction. The results show the onset of saturation in the ablation process at power densities above 1016 W/cm2. This effect can be linked to a transiently induced x-ray transparency in the solid by the femtosecond x-ray pulse at high power densities. The measured kinetic energies of protons and deuterons ejected from the surface reach several keV and concur with predictions from plasma-expansion models. Simulations of the interactions were performed with a nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium code with radiation transfer. These calculations return critical depths similar to the observed crater depths and capture the transient surface transparency at higher power densities.
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