Coherent electron dynamics of core-excited molecules at an x-ray free-electron laser
ORAL
Abstract
A new generation of x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) offers the possibility to initiate and probe sub-femtosecond electron dynamics in molecules with atomic site specificity. We demonstrate the production of a core-excited electronic wavepacket using isolated attosecond soft x-ray pulses at the Linac Coherent Light Source. We time-resolve the subsequent Auger-Meitner decay process with sub-femtosecond resolution and observe that the evolution of the core-excited wavepacket maps to quantum interference in the emitted Auger-Meitner electron current. Sub-femtosecond precision is achieved by angular streaking and a novel self-referencing scheme. Control of the coherent electron dynamics is achieved by tuning the central photon energy of the exciting XFEL pulse. Mapping the time evolution of the core-excited state to the Auger-Meitner current offers a unique testbed for probing coherent electron dynamics in molecules on the attosecond timescale.
*This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Science Program. Use of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.
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Presenters
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Taran Driver
- SLAC - Natl Accelerator Lab
- Stanford PULSE Institute; LCLS, SLAC National Laboratory
- SLAC - Natl Accelerator Lab/Stanford PULSE Institute