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K Sokolowski-Tinten

Publications and source records attributed to K Sokolowski-Tinten.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Observation of structural anisotropy and the onset of liquidlike motion during the nonthermal melting of InSb.

The melting dynamics of laser excited InSb have been studied with femtosecond x-ray diffraction. These measurements observe the delayed onset of diffusive atomic motion, signaling the appearance of liquidlike dynamics. They also demonstrate that the root-mean-squared displacement in the [111] direction increases faster than in the [110] direction after the first 500 fs. This structural anisotropy indicates that the initially generated fluid differs significantly from the equilibrium liquid.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Atomic-scale visualization of inertial dynamics.

The motion of atoms on interatomic potential energy surfaces is fundamental to the dynamics of liquids and solids. An accelerator-based source of femtosecond x-ray pulses allowed us to follow directly atomic displacements on an optically modified energy landscape, leading eventually to the transition from crystalline solid to disordered liquid. We show that, to first order in time, the dynamics are inertial, and we place constraints on the shape and curvature of the transition-state potential energy surface. Our measurements point toward analogies between this nonequilibrium phase transition and the short-time dynamics intrinsic to equilibrium liquids.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Clocking femtosecond X rays.

Linear-accelerator-based sources will revolutionize ultrafast x-ray science due to their unprecedented brightness and short pulse duration. However, time-resolved studies at the resolution of the x-ray pulse duration are hampered by the inability to precisely synchronize an external laser to the accelerator. At the Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source at the Stanford Linear-Accelerator Center we solved this problem by measuring the arrival time of each high energy electron bunch with electro-optic sampling. This measurement indirectly determined the arrival time of each x-ray pulse relative to an external pump laser pulse with a time resolution of better than 60 fs rms.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

3/2 harmonic generation by femtosecond laser pulses in steep-gradient plasmas.

The onset of an electron parametric instability and 3/2 harmonic generation in variable-scale-length plasmas on solid surfaces using femtosecond pulses is observed. With the intensity approaching 10(18) W/cm(2), the instability threshold is already reached at plasma scale lengths of the order of the laser wavelength. A well-collimated harmonic emission with unusually broad spectrum is obtained.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Femtosecond x-ray measurement of ultrafast melting and large acoustic transients.

Time-resolved x-ray diffraction with ultrashort ( approximately 300 fs), multi-keV x-ray pulses has been used to study the femtosecond laser-induced solid-to-liquid phase transition in a thin crystalline layer of germanium. Nonthermal melting is observed to take place within 300-500 fs. Following ultrafast melting we observe strong acoustic perturbations evolving on a picosecond time scale.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Anharmonic lattice dynamics in germanium measured with ultrafast x-ray diffraction.

Damping of impulsively generated coherent acoustic oscillations in a femtosecond laser-heated thin germanium film is measured as a function of fluence by means of ultrafast x-ray diffraction. By simultaneously measuring picosecond strain dynamics in the film and in the unexcited silicon substrate, we separate anharmonic damping from acoustic transmission through the buried interface. The measured damping rate and its dependence on the calculated temperature of the thermal bath is consistent with estimated four-body, elastic dephasing times (T2) for 7-GHz longitudinal acoustic phonons in germanium.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Detection of nonthermal melting by ultrafast X-ray diffraction.

Using ultrafast, time-resolved, 1.54 angstrom x-ray diffraction, thermal and ultrafast nonthermal melting of germanium, involving passage through nonequilibrium extreme states of matter, was observed. Such ultrafast, optical-pump, x-ray diffraction probe measurements provide a way to study many other transient processes in physics, chemistry, and biology, including direct observation of the atomic motion by which many solid-state processes and chemical and biochemical reactions take place.

Biochemistry↗