1. Investigating charge-up and fragmentation dynamics of oxygen molecules after interaction with strong X-ray free-electron laser pulses
- Author
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Kastirke, G, Ota, F, Rezvan, DV, Schöffler, MS, Weller, M, Rist, J, Boll, R, Anders, N, Baumann, TM, Eckart, S, Erk, B, De Fanis, A, Fehre, K, Gatton, A, Grundmann, S, Grychtol, P, Hartung, A, Hofmann, M, Ilchen, M, Janke, C, Kircher, M, Kunitski, M, Li, X, Mazza, T, Melzer, N, Montano, J, Music, V, Nalin, G, Ovcharenko, Y, Pier, A, Rennhack, N, Rivas, DE, Dörner, R, Rolles, D, Rudenko, A, Schmidt, Ph, Siebert, J, Strenger, N, Trabert, D, Vela-Perez, I, Wagner, R, Weber, Th, Williams, JB, Ziolkowski, P, Schmidt, L Ph H, Czasch, A, Tamura, Y, Hara, N, Yamazaki, K, Hatada, K, Trinter, F, Meyer, M, Ueda, K, Demekhin, Ph V, and Jahnke, T
- Subjects
Physical Sciences ,Chemical Sciences ,Atomic ,Molecular and Optical Physics ,Physical Chemistry ,Chemical Physics - Abstract
During the last decade, X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have enabled the study of light-matter interaction under extreme conditions. Atoms which are subject to XFEL radiation are charged by a complex interplay of (several subsequent) photoionization events and electronic decay processes within a few femtoseconds. The interaction with molecules is even more intriguing, since intricate nuclear dynamics occur as the molecules start to dissociate during the charge-up process. Here, we demonstrate that by analyzing photoelectron angular emission distributions and kinetic energy release of charge states of ionic molecular fragments, we can obtain a detailed understanding of the charge-up and fragmentation dynamics. Our novel approach allows for gathering such information without the need of complex ab initio modeling. As an example, we provide a detailed view on the processes happening on a femtosecond time scale in oxygen molecules exposed to intense XFEL pulses.
- Published
- 2022