Spatially confined low-power optically pumped ultrafast synchrotron x-ray nanodiffraction.
The combination of ultrafast optical excitation and time-resolved synchrotron x-ray nanodiffraction provides unique insight into the photoinduced dynamics of materials, with the spatial resolution required to probe individual nanostructures or small volumes within heterogeneous materials. Optically excited x-ray nanobeam experiments are challenging because the high total optical power required for experimentally relevant optical fluences leads to mechanical instability due to heating. For a given fluence, tightly focusing the optical excitation reduces the average optical power by more than three orders of magnitude and thus ensures sufficient thermal stability for x-ray nanobeam studies. Delivering optical pulses via a scannable fiber-coupled optical objective provides a well-defined excitation geometry during rotation and translation of the sample and allows the selective excitation of isolated areas within the sample. Experimental studies of the photoinduced lattice dynamics of a 35 nm BiFeO3 thin film on a SrTiO3 substrate demonstrate the potential to excite and probe nanoscale volumes.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Joonkyu
J
Park
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Qingteng
Q
Zhang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Pice
P
Chen
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Margaret P
MP
Cosgriff
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Jack A
JA
Tilka
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Carolina
C
Adamo
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Darrell G
DG
Schlom
X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
Haidan
H
Wen
X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
Yi
Y
Zhu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Paul G
PG
Evans