Ultrafast Bond Softening in Bismuth: Mapping a Solid's Interatomic Potential with X-rays
David Fritz(Argonne National Laboratory), David A. Reis(Argonne National Laboratory), Bernhard W. Adams(Argonne National Laboratory), R. Akre(Argonne National Laboratory), John Arthur(Argonne National Laboratory), C. Blome(Argonne National Laboratory), P. H. Bucksbaum(Argonne National Laboratory), A. L. Cavalieri(Argonne National Laboratory), S. Engemann(Argonne National Laboratory), Stephen Fahy(Argonne National Laboratory), R. W. Falcone(Argonne National Laboratory), P. H. Fuoss(Argonne National Laboratory), Kelly J. Gaffney(Argonne National Laboratory), M. J. George(Argonne National Laboratory), János Hajdu(Argonne National Laboratory), M. P. Hertlein(Argonne National Laboratory), Patrick Hillyard(Argonne National Laboratory), M. Horn‐von Hoegen(Argonne National Laboratory), M. Kammler(Argonne National Laboratory), J. Kaspar(Argonne National Laboratory), Reinhard Kienberger(Argonne National Laboratory), P. Krejcik(Argonne National Laboratory), Seung Hwan Lee(Argonne National Laboratory), A. M. Lindenberg(Argonne National Laboratory), Brian McFarland(Argonne National Laboratory), D. Meyer(Argonne National Laboratory), T. Montagne(Argonne National Laboratory), Éamonn Murray(Argonne National Laboratory), A. J. Nelson(Argonne National Laboratory), M. Nicoul(Argonne National Laboratory), R. Pahl(Argonne National Laboratory), J. Rudati(Argonne National Laboratory), H. Schlarb(Argonne National Laboratory), D. P. Siddons(Argonne National Laboratory), K. Sokolowski-Tinten(Argonne National Laboratory), T. Tschentscher(Argonne National Laboratory), D. von der Linde(Argonne National Laboratory), J. B. Hastings(Argonne National Laboratory)
Cited by 405Open Access
Abstract
Intense femtosecond laser excitation can produce transient states of matter that would otherwise be inaccessible to laboratory investigation. At high excitation densities, the interatomic forces that bind solids and determine many of their properties can be substantially altered. Here, we present the detailed mapping of the carrier density-dependent interatomic potential of bismuth approaching a solid-solid phase transition. Our experiments combine stroboscopic techniques that use a high-brightness linear electron accelerator-based x-ray source with pulse-by-pulse timing reconstruction for femtosecond resolution, allowing quantitative characterization of the interatomic potential energy surface of the highly excited solid.