Abstract
We use a Mach-Zehnder type autocorrelator to split and delay XUV pulses from the FLASH soft X-ray laser for triggering and subsequently probing the explosion of aerosolised sugar balls. FLASH was running at 182 eV photon energy with pulses of 70 fs duration. The delay between the pump-probe pulses was varied between zero and 5 ps, and the pulses were focused to reach peak intensities above 10¹⁶W/cm² with an off-axis parabola. The direct pulse triggered the explosion of single aerosolised sucrose nano-particles, while the delayed pulse probed the exploding structure. The ejected ions were measured by ion time of flight spectrometry, and the particle sizes were measured by coherent diffractive imaging. The results show that sucrose particles of 560-1000 nm diameter retain their size for about 500 fs following the first exposure. Significant sample expansion happens between 500 fs and 1 ps. We present simulations to support these observations.
Highlights
An understanding of the interaction of high-intensity X-ray pulses with matter is of fundamental importance for all applications where radiation induced processes are significant, including the creation and probing of matter under extreme conditions or the structure determination of bio-molecules
The ejected ions were measured by ion time of flight spectrometry, and the particle sizes were measured by coherent diffractive imaging
We study the ionization and explosion dynamics of organic samples injected into ultra-high intensity XUV pulse of femtosecond duration from the FLASH soft X-ray laser
Summary
An understanding of the interaction of high-intensity X-ray pulses with matter is of fundamental importance for all applications where radiation induced processes are significant, including the creation and probing of matter under extreme conditions or the structure determination of bio-molecules. Simulations suggest that CDI can be successfully used for single large molecules of biological origin if radiation damage from the high X-ray dose can be outrun by ultra-short exposures [1]. This diffraction-beforedestruction approach has been verified in subsequent experiments [3,4,5]. We measure sample explosion at 0, 500 fs, 1 ps, 2 ps, and 5 ps delays (with sub-femtosecond reproducibility) with the pump and delay pulses having the same intensity This wide scan of the time delays was chosen to match the time scales previously observed in the expansion of micronsize samples [6,7]. We present simulations of the interaction under the experimental conditions that describe the plasma dynamics and support our interpretations
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