Atomic-Scale Visualization of Ultrafast Bond Breaking in X-Ray-Excited Diamond

0579924 - ÚFP 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Inoue, I. - Deguchi, Y. - Ziaja, B. - Osaka, T. - Abdullah, M.M. - Jurek, Z. - Medvedev, Nikita - Tkachenko, V. - Inubushi, Y. - Kasai, H. - Tamasaku, K. - Hara, T. - Nishibori, E. - Yabashi, M.
Atomic-Scale Visualization of Ultrafast Bond Breaking in X-Ray-Excited Diamond.
Physical Review Letters. Roč. 126, č. 11 (2021), č. článku 117403. ISSN 0031-9007. E-ISSN 1079-7114
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LTT17015; GA MŠMT(CZ) LM2015083
Institutional support: RVO:61389021
Keywords : x-ray * diamond * charge density distribution
OECD category: Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics)
Impact factor: 9.185, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.117403

Ultrafast changes of charge density distribution in diamond after irradiation with an intense x-ray pulse (photon energy, 7.8 keV, pulse duration, 6 fs, intensity, 3×1019 W/cm2) have been visualized with the x-ray pump-x-ray probe technique. The measurement reveals that covalent bonds in diamond are broken and the electron distribution around each atom becomes almost isotropic within ∼5 fs after the intensity maximum of the x-ray pump pulse. The 15 fs time delay observed between the bond breaking and atomic disordering indicates nonisothermality of electron and lattice subsystems on this timescale. From these observations and simulation results, we interpret that the x-ray-induced change of the interatomic potential drives the ultrafast atomic disordering underway to the following nonthermal melting.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0348716