Delayed Onset of Nonthermal Melting in Single-Crystal Silicon Pumped with Hard X Rays

T. Pardini, J. Alameda, A. Aquila, S. Boutet, T. Decker, A. E. Gleason, S. Guillet, P. Hamilton, M. Hayes, R. Hill, J. Koglin, B. Kozioziemski, J. Robinson, K. Sokolowski-Tinten, R. Soufli, and S. P. Hau-Riege

Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 265701 – Published 25 June 2018; Erratum Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 129903 (2020)

Abstract

In this work, we monitor the onset of nonthermal melting in single-crystal silicon by implementing an x-ray pump–x-ray probe scheme. Using the ultrashort pulses provided by the Linac Coherent Light Source (SLAC) and a custom-built split-and-delay line for hard x rays, we achieve the temporal resolution needed to detect the onset of the transition. Our data show no loss of long-range order up to $150 \pm 40 fs$ from photoabsorption, which we interpret as the time needed for the electronic system to equilibrate at or above the critical nonthermal melting temperature. Once such equilibration is reached, the loss of long-range atomic order proceeds inertially and is completed within $315 \pm 40 fs$ from photoabsorption.

Received 13 November 2017
Revised 30 March 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.265701

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Crystal melting Phase transitions

Ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Erratum

Erratum: Delayed Onset of Nonthermal Melting in Single-Crystal Silicon Pumped with Hard X Rays [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 265701 (2018)]

T. Pardini, J. Alameda, A. Aquila, S. Boutet, T. Decker, A. E. Gleason, S. Guillet, P. Hamilton, M. Hayes, R. Hill, J. Koglin, B. Kozioziemski, J. Robinson, K. Sokolowski-Tinten, R. Soufli, and S. P. Hau-Riege

Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 129903 (2020)

Authors & Affiliations

T. Pardini^1,*, J. Alameda¹, A. Aquila², S. Boutet², T. Decker¹, A. E. Gleason^2,3, S. Guillet², P. Hamilton¹, M. Hayes², R. Hill¹, J. Koglin², B. Kozioziemski¹, J. Robinson¹, K. Sokolowski-Tinten⁴, R. Soufli¹, and S. P. Hau-Riege¹

¹Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, USA
²SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
³Shock and Detonation Physics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
⁴Faculty of Physics and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstrasse 1, 47048 Duisburg, Germany