Abstract
Femtosecond x-ray laser flashes with power densities of up to at 13.7 nm wavelength were scattered by single xenon clusters in the gas phase. Similar to light scattering from atmospheric microparticles, the x-ray diffraction patterns carry information about the optical constants of the objects. However, the high flux of the x-ray laser induces severe transient changes of the electronic configuration, resulting in a tenfold increase of absorption in the developing nanoplasma. The modification in opaqueness can be correlated to strong atomic charging of the particle leading to excitation of . It is shown that single-shot single-particle scattering on femtosecond time scales yields insight into ultrafast processes in highly excited systems where conventional spectroscopy techniques are inherently blind.
- Received 3 April 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.093401
© 2012 American Physical Society