Time resolved spectroscopy with femtosecond soft-x-ray pulses

The most challenging application of time resolved spectroscopy is to directly observe the structural and electronic dynamics. Here we present the combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy with laser driven x-ray sources, offering atomic spatial and temporal resolution. Our new approaches for optimization of laser driven x-ray sources resulted in the demonstration of spatially coherent sub-20 fs x-ray pulses in a range up to several keV. We excited polycrystalline silicon with an ultrashort laser pulse and characterized the collective motion of atoms with time resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy at a temporal resolution of less than 20 fs. Finally, we have shown the feasibility of probing the dynamics of the electronic structure of silicon and carbon with near edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy.     

强光1号装置上钨丝阵列的Z箍缩实验研究

本文报道了2003年在强光一号装置上进行的钨丝阵列的Z箍缩实验研究的主要结果。为了研究钨丝阵列的内爆过程和x光辐射特性，使用了x光功率谱仪和一维时空分辨x光成像系统等诊断设备。实验中由32根5微米钨丝组成的直径8mm长20mm的优化负载获得了最高能量为36.6kJ的x光产额，一维时空分辨x光成像系统的数据显示x光辐射区域以6.4×10⁶cm/s的速度减小，同时x光峰值时刻出现在等离子体被压缩到近轴区域之前。     

Generation of picosecond hard-x-ray pulses in a femtosecond-laser-driven x-ray diode

The temporal characteristics of ultrashort hard-x-ray pulses generated in a femtosecond-laser-driven x-ray diode are investigated for what is believed to be the first time. Copper Kalpha x-ray pulses with a duration of a few picoseconds are measured with a jitter-free x-ray streak camera.     

Clocking femtosecond X rays

Linear-accelerator-based sources will revolutionize ultrafast x-ray science due to their unprecedented brightness and short pulse duration. However, time-resolved studies at the resolution of the x-ray pulse duration are hampered by the inability to precisely synchronize an external laser to the accelerator. At the Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source at the Stanford Linear-Accelerator Center we solved this problem by measuring the arrival time of each high energy electron bunch with electro-optic sampling. This measurement indirectly determined the arrival time of each x-ray pulse relative to an external pump laser pulse with a time resolution of better than 60 fs rms.     

Coherent control of phonons probed by time-resolved x-ray diffraction

Time-resolved x-ray diffraction with picosecond temporal resolution is used to probe the product state of a coherent control experiment in which a single acoustic mode in a bulk semiconductor is driven to large amplitude or canceled out. It is demonstrated that by shaping ultrafast acoustic pulses one can coherently control the x-ray diffraction efficiency of a crystal on the time scale of a vibrational period, with application to coherent switching of x-ray beams.     

Absolute time-resolved x-ray laser gain measurement

We present the first direct measurement of the time evolution of the gain of a soft x-ray laser amplifier. The measurement is based on the injection of a seed pulse, obtained by high-order harmonic generation, into an x-ray laser medium. Strong amplification occurs when the seed pulse is synchronized with the gain period. By precisely varying the delay between the x-ray laser plasma creation and the seed pulse injection, the actual temporal evolution of the soft x-ray amplifier gain is obtained with a subpicosecond resolution.     

X-ray fluorescence from the element with atomic number Z=120

An atomic clock based on x-ray fluorescence yields has been used to estimate the mean characteristic time for fusion followed by fission in reactions 238U + 64Ni at 6.6 MeV/A. Inner shell vacancies are created during the collisions in the electronic structure of the possibly formed Z=120 compound nuclei. The filling of these vacancies accompanied by a x-ray emission with energies characteristic of Z=120 can take place only if the atomic transitions occur before nuclear fission. Therefore, the x-ray yield characteristic of the united atom with 120 protons is strongly related to the fission time and to the vacancy lifetimes. K x rays from the element with Z=120 have been unambiguously identified from a coupled analysis of the involved nuclear reaction mechanisms and of the measured photon spectra. A minimum mean fission time τ(f)=2.5×10(-18) s has been deduced for Z=120 from the measured x-ray multiplicity.     

High resolution 3D x-ray diffraction microscopy

We have imaged a 2D buried Ni nanostructure at 8 nm resolution using coherent x-ray diffraction and the oversampling phasing method. By employing a 3D imaging reconstruction algorithm, for the first time we have experimentally determined the 3D structure of a noncrystalline nanostructured material at 50 nm resolution. The 2D and 3D imaging resolution is currently limited by the exposure time and the computing power, while the ultimate resolution is limited by the x-ray wavelengths. We believe these results pave the way for the development of atomic resolution 3D x-ray diffraction microscopy.     

腔靶X光空间特性研究

本文介绍了腔靶X光空间成像原理和方法。在国内,首次将MCP(微通道板)光电成像器件应用于激光聚变实验,将X射线测量能区扩展到亚千电子伏范围。实验中利用各种黑体腔靶,通过测量腔靶X光空间发射图象,得到了腔靶激光注入孔和腔内都存在着等离子体会聚机制,以及腔内X光发射以腔壁为主等重要信息,观察到腔靶X光输运通道存在着“堵口”现象,对测量结果进行了物理解释。     

Analysis of the Inorganic Constituents of Particles on a Particle-by-Particle Basis using a Computerized SEM-EDS System

This paper is based on the development of the Moza-Austin technique for characterizing thousands of coal particles by approximate analysis of the major inorganic constituents Ca, Al, Si, K, Na, Fe and S in each particle. The technique has sufficient sensitivity to work on small volumes, is fast enough to handle large number of particles within a reasonable period of time, and consists of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS). A computerized SEM-EDS system that allows the automated analysis of hundreds of particles per hour is described. The analysis is based on the location and tracing of exposed areas of particles embedded in a polished specimen, the selection of sampling points on the traced sections, the collection of an x-ray spectrum from each sampled point for a defined period of time, and the processing of the x-ray intensity to calculate point composition using ZAF corrections. Procedures for correcting for dead time, spectrum background, x-ray detector efficiency and spectrum overlap are described. Problems and future work are discussed.     

Ultrafast temperature jump in liquid water studied by a novel infrared pump-x-ray probe technique

We report the first infrared pump-x-ray probe study of the structural dynamics of liquid water. Femtosecond infrared excitation via the O–H stretching band induces an ultrafast temperature jump that gives rise to changes in the hydrogen bond network. Such changes are probed via the transient x-ray absorption at the oxygen K edge using 70 ps x-ray pulses from a storage ring source. We measure spectra and time evolution of the transient x-ray absorption and calibrate the absolute change of temperature. Our work paves the way for future studies with femtosecond x-ray probe pulses.     

Generation of suprathermal electrons during magnetic reconnection at the sawtooth crash and disruption instability in the T-10 tokamak

Evidence for excitation of suprathermal electrons ( E(gamma) approximately 20-100 keV) during magnetic reconnection in the T-10 tokamak is presented through analysis of the x-ray measurements with enhanced spatial and time resolution. A toroidally viewing x-ray imaging system and a fast hard x-ray detector placed inside the tokamak vessel allow identification of bursts of the nonthermal x-ray radiation around X points of the m = 1 and m = 2 magnetic islands during the sawtooth crash and prior to the energy quench at the density limit disruption.     

Coherent x-ray diffraction imaging with nanofocused illumination

Coherent x-ray diffraction imaging is an x-ray microscopy technique with the potential of reaching spatial resolutions well beyond the diffraction limits of x-ray microscopes based on optics. However, the available coherent dose at modern x-ray sources is limited, setting practical bounds on the spatial resolution of the technique. By focusing the available coherent flux onto the sample, the spatial resolution can be improved for radiation-hard specimens. A small gold particle (size <100 nm) was illuminated with a hard x-ray nanobeam (E=15.25 keV, beam dimensions approximately 100 x 100 nm2) and is reconstructed from its coherent diffraction pattern. A resolution of about 5 nm is achieved in 600 s exposure time.     

Experimental study of conversion from atomic high—order harmonics to x—ray emissions

There are two physical phenomena in a strong laser intensity. One is the high-order harmonic emission; the other is x-ray emission from optical-field ionized plasmas. The experiment of conversion from high-order harmonics to x-ray emissions was given with a 105fs Ti:sapphire laser by adjusting laser intensities. The ingredient in plasma was investigated by the numerical simulations.Our experimental results suggested that the free electrons have detrimental effects on harmonic generation but are favourable for x-ray emission from optical-field ionized plasmas. If we want to obtain more intense harmonic signals as a coherent light source in the soft x-ray region, we must avoid the production of free electrons in plasmas. At the same time, if we want to observe x-rays for the development of high-repetition-rate table-top soft x-ray lasers, we should strip all atoms in the plasmas to a necessary ionized stage by the optical-field-ionization in the field of a high-intensity laser pulse.     

Full potential x-ray absorption calculations using time dependent density functional theory

We report the implementation of a fully relativistic time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method for carrying out x-ray absorption spectroscopy calculations for extended systems. This is the first time that a TDDFT simulation of x-ray absorption in extended systems has featured a full potential ground state calculation. We prove that this unusual feature of the TDDFT implementation unequivocally yields improvement over the previous muffin-tin calculation methods.     

Quantitative imaging of single, unstained viruses with coherent x rays

We report the recording and reconstruction of x-ray diffraction patterns from single, unstained viruses, for the first time. By separating the diffraction pattern of the virus particles from that of their surroundings, we performed quantitative and high-contrast imaging of a single virion. The structure of the viral capsid inside a virion was visualized. This work opens the door for quantitative x-ray imaging of a broad range of specimens from protein machineries and viruses to cellular organelles. Moreover, our experiment is directly transferable to the use of x-ray free electron lasers, and represents an experimental milestone towards the x-ray imaging of large protein complexes.     

Design of Grazing-Incidence Broad-Band Multilayers for Hard X-Ray Reflectors

A new method of designing x-ray supermirrors with broad angular or energy response for use as coatings in x-ray optics is presented. The design is based on an analytical method with oversimplified analytical and semi-empirical formulae, and an extensive numerical method is used in the optimization design. A better initial multilayer is obtained with the former method and optimized with the latter method. In the optimization, a good design is achieved with much less computing time. In addition, the saturation effect due to the interfacial roughness in multilayer also emerges in the design of x-ray supermirrors with definite performances. The reflectivity of C/W x-ray supermirrors as a function of photon energy at the fixed grazing incident angle 0.5°is presented.     

Laser-ablation rates measured using x-ray laser transmission

The rate of laser ablation at irradiances of approximately 2 x 10{14} W cm{-2} of solid iron has been measured using the transmission of a neonlike zinc x-ray laser at 21.2 nm through thin iron targets. Ablated iron becomes transparent to the x-ray laser flux, enabling the thickness of unablated material and hence the rate of ablation to be measured from time resolved x-ray laser transmission.     

Dynamics of phason fluctuations in the i-AlPdMn quasicrystal

We report on the study of the dynamics of long wavelength phason fluctuations in the i-AlPdMn icosahedral phase using coherent x-ray scattering. When measured with a coherent x-ray beam, the diffuse intensity due to phasons presents strong fluctuations or speckles pattern. From room temperature to 500 degrees C the speckle pattern is time independent. At 650 degrees C the time correlation of the speckle pattern exhibits an exponential time decay, from which a characteristic time tau is extracted. We find that tau is proportional to the square of the phason wavelength, which demonstrates that phasons are collective diffusive modes in quasicrystals, in agreement with theoretical predictions.     

Direct observation of shear-induced orientational phase coexistence in a lyotropic system using a modified x-ray surface forces apparatus

The second generation x-ray surface forces apparatus (XSFA-II) allows for the first time simultaneous in situ small-angle x-ray scattering and surface force measurements. We have used the XSFA-II to monitor shear-induced orientational transitions in a lyotropic model lubricant system. Upon applying small shear amplitudes (approximately 20 micrometer) to a relatively thick (approximately 800 micrometer) film, we observed evidence for the formation of an orientational boundary layer at the shearing surface. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction revealed the gradual transition to shear-favored orientation by growth of the boundary layer.