Inner-shell-ionization-induced femtosecond structural dynamics of water molecules imaged in real time at an x-ray free-electron laser

L. Inhester, T. Jahnke, R. Guillemin, Sang-Kil Son, G. Kastirke, M. Ilchen, J. Rist, D. Trabert, N. Melzer, N. Anders, T. Mazza, R. Boll, A. De Fanis, V. Music, Th. Weber, M. Weller, S. Eckart, K. Fehre, S. Grundmann, A. Hartung, M. Hofmann, C. Janke, M. Kircher, G. Nalin, A. Pier, J. Siebert, N. Strenger, I. Vela-Perez, T. M. Baumann, P. Grychtol, J. Montano, Y. Ovcharenko, N. Rennhack, D. E. Rivas, R. Wagner, P. Ziolkowski, P. Schmidt, T. Marchenko, O. Travnikova, L. Journel, I. Ismail, E. Kukk, J. Niskanen, F. Trinter, C. Vozzi, M. Devetta, S. Stagira, M. Gisselbrecht, A. L. Jäger, X. Li, Y. Malakar, M. Martins, R. Feifel, L. Ph. H. Schmidt, A. Czasch, G. Sansone, D. Rolles, A. Rudenko, K. Ueda, R. Moshammer, R. Dörner, M. Meyer, T. Pfeifer, M. S. Schöffler, R. Santra, M. Simon, and M. N. Piancastelli

[BibTeX]https://www.icpeac2021.ca

We have exposed isolated water molecules to short x-ray pulses from a free-electron laser and detected momenta of all produced ions in coincidence. By combining experimental results and theoretical modeling, we can image the dissociation dynamics of water in unprecedented detail and uncover fundamental dynamical patterns relevant for the radiation damage in aqueous environments.

Tags: XMOLECULE, water, fragmentation, coincidence, experiment, SQS, European XFEL, CFEL, DESY