Nanoplasma Dynamics of Single Large Xenon Clusters Irradiated with Superintense X-Ray Pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source Free-Electron Laser

Abstract

The plasma dynamics of single mesoscopic Xe particles irradiated with intense femtosecond x-ray pulses exceeding 10 16 W=cm 2 from the Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron laser are investigated. Simultaneous recording of diffraction patterns and ion spectra allows eliminating the influence of the laser focal volume intensity and particle size distribution. The data show that for clusters illuminated with intense x-ray pulses, highly charged ionization fragments in a narrow distribution are created and that the nanoplasma recombination is efficiently suppressed.

Ultrafast Dynamics of a Nucleobase Analogue Illuminated by a Short Intense X-ray Free Electron Laser Pulse

“…XFEL pulses, which are the subject of the present work, are known to cause, even for isolated atoms, major changes in electronic structure via multiphoton absorption followed by Auger processes [24][25][26][27]. At the other end of the scale, in condensed matter and clusters of 10 3 -10 5 atoms, the intense XFEL pulses produce a dense nanoplasma, in which the dynamics of electrons and ions are strongly correlated with each other [28,29].…”

Following the Birth of a Nanoplasma Produced by an Ultrashort Hard-X-Ray Laser in Xenon Clusters

“…Therefore, with the present peak fluence of the XFEL pulse (∼30 μJ=μm 2 ), the ionization probability of each Xe atom in the cluster is ∼57% and, thus, ∼2800 atoms in the cluster of ∼5000 atoms may be core ionized. We note, however, that the present experimental data have been averaged over the focal volume of the XFEL pulses [11,15], which means a larger contribution from lower XFEL intensities (see Supplemental Material [20] for a discussion on the dependence on the XFEL intensity). Therefore, the averaged total charge of the cluster discussed above is more than an order of magnitude smaller than that expected from the peak fluence, taking into account the very efficient three-body recombination in the core part of the dense nanoplasma [10].…”

“…XFEL pulses are currently giving access to a new regime of x-ray intensities, opening new research avenues in studying the interaction between intense x rays and various forms of matter [8][9][10][11]. Understanding the ultrafast reactions induced by XFEL pulses is of fundamental interest, as well as of crucial importance for structure determination [12,13].…”

Collective relaxation processes in atoms, molecules and clusters

“…It can be produced by infrared radiation due to a strong resonant coupling of the cluster to the light's electric field or by ultraviolet radiation via single and multi-photon ionization. Nanoplasma can be formed also by X-ray radiation since a highly charged cluster can trap even fast photoelectrons in the keV range [102,103]. Subsequent quick thermalization is accompanied by evaporation of slow electrons [104].…”