European XFEL Science Seminar | Nanoscale plasmas meet x-ray imaging
by
Prof.Thomas Fennel(University of Rostock)
→
Europe/Berlin
E1.173 (Schenefeld) (European XFEL)
E1.173 (Schenefeld)
European XFEL
Description
The interaction of intense laser light with condensed matter leads to the ultrafast generation of finite plasmas. Understanding the underlying processes promises a fundamental route towards realizing active control of the plasma generation and evolution via appropriately structured light fields – with implications for a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from nanomachining over medical treatment to particle acceleration. Atomic clusters provide ideal systems to explore the relevant correlated and collective electron and ion dynamics [1]. New pathways in nanoplasma science have been opened up recently with the availability of intense XUV and x-ray laser fields - two of them will be discussed in detail in this talk.
In the first part I will discuss how the combination of IR and XUV fields enables steering of ultrafast electron and ion dynamics in laser-driven nanoplasmas via seeded avalanching [2]. The resulting control capabilities mark a new frontier in ultrafast nanoscience.
The second part will be focussed on a major promise of current x-ray science at free electron lasers - the imaging of ultrafast structural dynamics with nanometre spatial and femtosecond temporal resolution (or even better) via single-shot x-ray diffraction [3]. Laser-driven atomic clusters and nanoparticles provide an ideal platform for developing and demonstrating the required technology to extract the dynamics from diffraction images. With our microscopic particle-in-cell simulations (MicPIC) the complete description of IR pump x-ray probe imaging experiments has become possible [4], offering the simulation-assisted reconstruction of experimental data. Possible routes towards reaching attosecond time resolution in the visualization of complex dynamical processes in matter by x-ray diffraction will be discussed.
References
[1] T. Fennel, K.-H. Meiwes-Broer, J. Tiggesbäumker, P.G. Reinhard, P. M. Dinh, and E. Suraud, “Laser-driven nonlinear cluster dynamics”, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1793 (2010)
[2] B. Schütte, M. Arbeiter, A. Mermillod-Blondin, M.J.J. Vrakking, A. Rouzee, and T. Fennel, “Ionization avalanching in clusters ignited by extreme-ultraviolet driven seed electrons”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 033001 (2016)
[3] T. Gorkhover et al., “Femtosecond and nanometre visualization of structural dynamics in superheated nanoparticles”, Nature Photon. 10, 93 (2016)
[4] C. Peltz, C. Varin, T. Brabec, T. Fennel, “Time-resolved x-ray imaging of anisotropic nanoplasma expansion”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 133401 (2014)
Host: Karen Appel
