Abstract

An important new area of scientific research in chemistry, physics, and biology is the investigation of ultrafast structural dynamics in condensed matter using femtosecond x-ray pulses. X-rays are powerful probes of atomic structure since they interact with core electronic levels, and can therefore provide direct information about relative atomic positions and coordination. Modern synchrotrons providing tunable high-brightness beams of x-rays have proven to be powerful tools for probing the “static” structure of matter. Techniques such as x-ray diffraction, extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and many others are widely used at such facilities to obtain structural information with atomic resolution. However, the time resolution provided by synchrotrons is limited to >30 ps due to the length of the stored electron bunches. This is orders of magnitude longer than the fundamental time scale for atomic motion, dictated by an atomic vibrational period, ~100 fs.

© 2002 Optical Society of America