Ultrafast ionization and fragmentation dynamics of molecules at high x-ray intensity

Sang-Kil Son

[BibTeX][slide: 5Mb]http://conf.kps.or.kr/Conference/ConferenceView.asp?AC=0&CODE=CC20160601&CpPage=20#CONF

The recent advent of x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) enables us to explore new frontiers of science, for example, femtosecond x-ray imaging and warm dense matter. In this talk, I will present a theoretical framework of XFEL–matter interaction, namely x-ray multiphoton absorption. Then I will discuss recent results of ultrafast x-ray-induced explosion of iodomethane (CH3I) molecules. By using a combined analysis of experiment and theory, we investigate detailed ionization and fragmentation dynamics of the molecules when exposed to intense XFEL pulses. It will be demonstrated that ionization of a molecule at high x-ray intensity is considerably enhanced in comparison with the isolated atomic case, due to ultrafast charge rearrangement within a molecule during x-ray multiphoton absorption. Our study provides a fundamental insight to understand how small polyatomic molecules interact with intense XFEL pulses, which is crucial for applications in many areas of XFEL-driven science.

Tags: XMOLECULE, x-ray multiphoton ionization, x-ray explosion dynamics, Xe, CH3I, XFEL, LCLS, CFEL, DESY

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