Electronic structure of FEL-produced Al plasma investigated by emission spectroscopy

Authors

S. M. Vinko, U. Zastrau, S. Mazevet, J. Andreasson, S. Bajt, T. Burian, J. Chalupsky, H. N. Chapman, J. Cihelka, D. Doria, T. Döppner, S. Düsterer, T. Dzelzainis, R. R. Fäustlin, C. Fortmann, E. Förster, E. Galtier, S. H. Glenzer, S. Göde, G. Gregori, J. Hajdu, V. Hajkova, P. A. Heimann, R. Irsig, L. Juha, M. Jurek, J. Krzywinski, T. Laarmann, H. J. Lee, R.W. Lee, B. Li, K.-H. Meiwes-Broer, J. P. Mithen, B. Nagler, A. J. Nelson, A. Przystawik, R. Redmer, D. Riley, F. Rosmej, R. Sobierajski, F. Tavella, R. Thiele, J. Tiggesbäumker, S. Toleikis, T. Tschentscher, L. Vysin, T. J. Whitcher, S. White, J. S. Wark: Electronic structure of an XUV photogenerated solid-density aluminum plasma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 225001 (2010).

Laboratory / Department
Department of Radiation and Chemical Physics (PALS Centre)
Year
2010

By use of high intensity XUV radiation from the FLASH free-electron laser at DESY, we have created highly excited exotic states of matter in solid-density aluminum samples. The XUV intensity is sufficiently high to excite an inner-shell electron from a large fraction of the atoms in the focal region.

We show that soft-x-ray emission spectroscopy measurements reveal the electronic temperature and density of this highly excited system immediately after the excitation pulse, with detailed calculations of the electronic structure, based on finite-temperature density functional theory, in good agreement with the experimental results.