Inner-shell multiphoton multiple ionization dynamics of xenon atoms by x-ray free-electron laser pulses

Sang-Kil Son and Robin Santra

[BibTeX][slide: 4Mb]http://www.dpg-verhandlungen.de/year/2013/conference/hannover/part/a/session/19/contribution/4

When atoms and molecules are irradiated by an x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL), they are highly ionized via a sequence of one-photon ionization and relaxation processes. To describe the ionization dynamics during XFEL pulses, a rate equation model has been employed. Even though this model is straightforward for the case of light atoms, it generates a huge number of coupled rate equations for heavy atoms like xenon, which are not trivial to solve directly. Here, we employ the Monte Carlo method to address this problem and investigate multiphoton multiple ionization dynamics of xenon atoms induced by XFEL pulses. The photon energy used ranges from 1.5 keV to 5.5 keV, which can initially ionize M-shell and/or L-shell electrons of xenon atoms, respectively. We present charge state distributions, photoelectron and Auger electron spectra, and fluorescence spectra from the ionization dynamics of xenon atoms and compare them with recent XFEL experiments conducted at LCLS and SACLA.

Tags: Xe, heavy atom, ionization dynamics, multiphoton, multiple ionization, inner-shell, decay cascade, x-ray, LCLS, SACLA, XATOM, FEL, CFEL, DESY

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