Repetitive non-thermal melting as a timing monitor for femtosecond pump/probe X-ray experiments

Å U J Bengtsson; J C Ekström; Xiaocui Wang; A Jurgilaitis; Van-Thai Pham; D Kroon; J Larsson

doi:10.1063/4.0000020

Repetitive non-thermal melting as a timing monitor for femtosecond pump/probe X-ray experiments

Struct Dyn. 2020 Sep 22;7(5):054303. doi: 10.1063/4.0000020. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Authors

Å U J Bengtsson¹, J C Ekström¹, Xiaocui Wang¹, A Jurgilaitis², Van-Thai Pham², D Kroon², J Larsson

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
² MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.

Abstract

Time-resolved optical pump/X-ray probe experiments are often used to study structural dynamics. To ensure high temporal resolution, it is necessary to monitor the timing between the X-ray pulses and the laser pulses. The transition from a crystalline solid material to a disordered state in a non-thermal melting process can be used as a reliable timing monitor. We have performed a study of the non-thermal melting of InSb in single-shot mode, where we varied the sample temperature in order to determine the conditions required for repetitive melting. We show how experimental conditions affect the feasibility of such a timing tool.