We have investigated multiphoton multiple ionization dynamics of argon and xenon atoms using a new x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility, SPring-8Ångstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) in Japan, and identified that Xe n+ with n up to 26 are produced predominantly via four-photon absorption as well as Ar n+ with n up to 10 are produced via two-photon absorption at a photon energy of 5.5 keV. The absolute fluence of the XFEL pulse, needed for comparison between theory and experiment, has been determined using two-photon processes in the argon atom with the help of benchmark ab initio calculations. Our experimental results, in combination with a newly developed theoretical model for heavy atoms, demonstrate the occurrence of multiphoton absorption involving deep inner shells.

Recently we developed a new microwave spectroscopy technique in the frequency range up to 40 GHz, and measured the static dielectric constant and the dielectric relaxation time for supercritical water. In the present work we report the dielectric properties of heavy water at temperatures and pressures up to 770 K and 59 MPa, respectively. The static dielectric constant of D2O as well as H2O are well described by the Uematsu–Franck formula when the number density instead of the mass density is used as the input parameter. The dielectric relaxation time decreases rapidly with increasing temperature in liquid H2O and D2O and jumps to a large value at the liquid–gas transition. The relaxation time of D2O is longer than that of H2O in the liquid state, and the difference becomes smaller with decreasing density in the gaseous state. For both H2O and D2O the most relevant parameter determining the relaxation time is the temperature at high densities or at low temperatures, and it is the density at low densities or at high temperatures. Based upon the observation that the dielectric relaxation time becomes fairly long in the dilute limit, we have concluded that the dielectric relaxation in the gaseous state is governed by the binary collision of water molecules and explained the relaxation time quantitatively by the collision time. We have extended the interpretation of the dielectric relaxation to the liquid state by taking into account the contribution of bound water molecules that are incorporated in the hydrogen-bond network. Anomalous relaxation at low temperatures is also discussed.

The sound absorption coefficient alpha and sound velocity nu(S) have been measured for 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [Cn mim]PF(6), with n = 8,6,4 and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [C4 mim]TFSI, at the frequencies of 11.3, 34.9, and 57.7 MHz in the temperature range from 293 to 393 K. From the obtained alpha and available viscosity data, [Cn mim]PF(6) with large n proves to be no longer Newtonian liquids at room temperatures. Applying a Maxwell viscoelastic model with the elastic modulus G of a spring and the shear coefficient gamma of a dashpot to the experimental frequency dependence of alpha, one finds that G is insensitive to n, while the relaxation time tau(= gamma/G), which is on the order of nanoseconds, does depend on n.

In recent years, free-electron lasers operating in the true X-ray regime have opened up access to the femtosecond-scale dynamics induced by deep inner-shell ionization. We have investigated charge creation and transfer dynamics in the context of molecular Coulomb explosion of a single molecule, exposed to sequential deep inner-shell ionization within an ultrashort (10 fs) X-ray pulse. The target molecule was CH3I, methane sensitized to X-rays by halogenization with a heavy element, iodine. Time-of-flight ion spectroscopy and coincident ion analysis was employed to investigate, via the properties of the atomic fragments, single-molecule charge states of up to +22. Experimental findings have been compared with a parametric model of simultaneous Coulomb explosion and charge transfer in the molecule. The study demonstrates that including realistic charge dynamics is imperative when molecular Coulomb explosion experiments using short-pulse facilities are performed.

Using electron spectroscopy, we have investigated nanoplasma formation from noble gas clusters exposed to high-intensity hard-x-ray pulses at ~5 keV. Our experiment was carried out at the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) facility in Japan. Dedicated theoretical simulations were performed with the molecular dynamics tool XMDYN. We found that in this unprecedented wavelength regime nanoplasma formation is a highly indirect process. In the argon clusters investigated, nanoplasma is mainly formed through secondary electron cascading initiated by slow Auger electrons. Energy is distributed within the sample entirely through Auger processes and secondary electron cascading following photoabsorption, as in the hard x-ray regime there is no direct energy transfer from the field to the plasma. This plasma formation mechanism is specific to the hard-x-ray regime and may, thus, also be important for XFEL-based molecular imaging studies. In xenon clusters, photo- and Auger electrons contribute more significantly to the nanoplasma formation. Good agreement between experiment and simulations validates our modelling approach. This has wide-ranging implications for our ability to quantitatively predict the behavior of complex molecular systems irradiated by high-intensity hard x-rays.