Mapping the electronic structure of warm dense nickel via resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Journal article

The development of bright free-electron lasers (FEL) has revolutionised our ability to create and study matter in the high-energy-density (HED) regime. Current diagnostic techniques have been successful in yielding information on fundamental thermodynamic plasma properties, but provide only limited or indirect information on the detailed quantum structure of these systems, and on how it is affected by ionization dynamics. Here we show how the valence electronic structure of soliddensity nickel, heated to temperatures of around 10 of eV on femtosecond timescales, can be probed by single-shot resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Linac Coherent Light Source FEL. The RIXS spectrum provides a wealth of information on the HED system that goes well beyond what can be extracted from x-ray absorption or emission spectroscopy alone, and is particularly well-suited to time-resolved studies of electronic-structure dynamics.

Authors: Humphries, O; Marjoribanks, RS; Van Den Berg, Q; Galtier, EC; Firmansyah, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Volume: 125
• Article number: 195001
• Publication date: 2020-11-04
• Acceptance date: 2020-10-07
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.195001
• EISSN: 1079-7114
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR