TY - JOUR A1 - Schick, Daniel A1 - Le Guyader, Loic A1 - Pontius, Niko A1 - Radu, Ilie A1 - Kachel, Torsten A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Zeschke, Thomas A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Holldack, Karsten T1 - Analysis of the halo background in femtosecond slicing experiments JF - Journal of synchrotron radiation N2 - The slicing facility FemtoSpeX at BESSY II offers unique opportunities to study photo-induced dynamics on femtosecond time scales by means of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, resonant and non-resonant X-ray diffraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments in the soft X-ray regime. Besides femtosecond X-ray pulses, slicing sources inherently also produce a so-called `halo' background with a different time structure, polarization and pointing. Here a detailed experimental characterization of the halo radiation is presented, and a method is demonstrated for its correct and unambiguous removal from femtosecond time-resolved data using a special laser triggering scheme as well as analytical models. Examples are given for time-resolved measurements with corresponding halo correction, and errors of the relevant physical quantities caused by either neglecting or by applying a simplified model to describe this background are estimated. KW - femtosecond slicing KW - halo KW - pump-probe KW - XMCD KW - X-ray scattering Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1107/S160057751600401X SN - 1600-5775 VL - 23 SP - 700 EP - 711 PB - International Union of Crystallography CY - Chester ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rettig, L. A1 - Dornes, C. A1 - Thielemann-Kuehn, Nele A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Zabel, Hartmut A1 - Schlagel, D. L. A1 - Lograsso, T. A. A1 - Chollet, M. A1 - Robert, A. A1 - Sikorski, M. A1 - Song, S. A1 - Glownia, J. M. A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian A1 - Johnson, S. L. A1 - Staub, U. T1 - Itinerant and Localized Magnetization Dynamics in Antiferromagnetic Ho JF - Physical review letters N2 - Using femtosecond time-resolved resonant magnetic x-ray diffraction at the Ho L-3 absorption edge, we investigate the demagnetization dynamics in antiferromagnetically ordered metallic Ho after femtosecond optical excitation. Tuning the x-ray energy to the electric dipole (E1, 2p -> 5d) or quadrupole (E2, 2p -> 4f) transition allows us to selectively and independently study the spin dynamics of the itinerant 5d and localized 4f electronic subsystems via the suppression of the magnetic (2 1 3-tau) satellite peak. We find demagnetization time scales very similar to ferromagnetic 4f systems, suggesting that the loss of magnetic order occurs via a similar spin-flip process in both cases. The simultaneous demagnetization of both subsystems demonstrates strong intra-atomic 4f-5d exchange coupling. In addition, an ultrafast lattice contraction due to the release of magneto-striction leads to a transient shift of the magnetic satellite peak. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.257202 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 116 SP - 6382 EP - 6389 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pontius, Niko A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Trabant, Christoph A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Sorgenfrei, Florian A1 - Kachel, Torsten A1 - Woestmann, Michael A1 - Roling, Sebastian A1 - Zacharias, Helmut A1 - Ivanov, Rosen A1 - Treusch, Rolf A1 - Buchholz, Marcel A1 - Metcalf, Pete A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Probing the non-equilibrium transient state in magnetite by a jitter-free two-color X-ray pump and X-ray probe experiment JF - Structural dynamics N2 - We present a general experimental concept for jitter-free pump and probe experiments at free electron lasers. By generating pump and probe pulse from one and the same X-ray pulse using an optical split-and-delay unit, we obtain a temporal resolution that is limited only by the X-ray pulse lengths. In a two-color X-ray pump and X-ray probe experiment with sub 70 fs temporal resolution, we selectively probe the response of orbital and charge degree of freedom in the prototypical functional oxide magnetite after photoexcitation. We find electronic order to be quenched on a time scale of (30 +/- 30) fs and hence most likely faster than what is to be expected for any lattice dynamics. Our experimental result hints to the formation of a short lived transient state with decoupled electronic and lattice degree of freedom in magnetite. The excitation and relaxation mechanism for X-ray pumping is discussed within a simple model leading to the conclusion that within the first 10 fs the original photoexcitation decays into low-energy electronic excitations comparable to what is achieved by optical pump pulse excitation. Our findings show on which time scales dynamical decoupling of degrees of freedom in functional oxides can be expected and how to probe this selectively with soft X-ray pulses. Results can be expected to provide crucial information for theories for ultrafast behavior of materials and help to develop concepts for novel switching devices. (C) 2018 Author(s). Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042847 SN - 2329-7778 VL - 5 IS - 5 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Jong, S. A1 - Kukreja, R. A1 - Trabant, C. A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Chang, C. F. A1 - Kachel, T. A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Sorgenfrei, Florian A1 - Back, C. H. A1 - Braeuer, B. A1 - Schlotter, W. F. A1 - Turner, J. J. A1 - Krupin, O. A1 - Doehler, M. A1 - Zhu, D. A1 - Hossain, M. A. A1 - Scherz, A. O. A1 - Fausti, D. A1 - Novelli, F. A1 - Esposito, M. A1 - Lee, W. S. A1 - Chuang, Y. D. A1 - Lu, D. H. A1 - Moore, R. G. A1 - Yi, M. A1 - Trigo, M. A1 - Kirchmann, P. A1 - Pathey, L. A1 - Golden, M. S. A1 - Buchholz, Marcel A1 - Metcalf, P. A1 - Parmigiani, F. A1 - Wurth, W. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian A1 - Duerr, H. A. T1 - Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite JF - Nature materials N2 - As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown(1), magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator-metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible(2-8). Recently, three- Fe- site lattice distortions called trimeronswere identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase(9). Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump- probe X- ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator-metal transition. We find this to be a two- step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5 +/- 0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics(10). Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3718 SN - 1476-1122 SN - 1476-4660 VL - 12 IS - 10 SP - 882 EP - 886 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Könnecke, Rene A1 - Follath, R. A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Eggenstein, F. A1 - Zeschke, T. A1 - Bischoff, P. A1 - Schmidt, J. -S. A1 - Noll, T. A1 - Trabant, C. A1 - Schreck, S. A1 - Wernet, Ph. A1 - Eisebitt, S. A1 - Senf, F. A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian A1 - Erko, A. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - The confocal plane grating spectrometer at BESSY II JF - Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena : the international journal on theoretical and experimental aspects of electron spectroscopy N2 - At BESSY II a confocal plane grating spectrometer for resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is currently under commissioning. The new endstation operates with a source size of 4 x 1 mu m(2) provided by its dedicated beamline. The RIXS-spectrometer covers an energy range from 50 eV to 1000 eV, providing a resolving power E/Delta E of 5000-15,000. The beamline allows full polarization control and gives a photon flux of up to 7 x 10(14) photons/s/0.1 A/0.1%bandwidth by offering a resolving power E/Delta E of 4000-12,000. KW - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering KW - Soft X-ray monochromator KW - High transmission micro focus beamline KW - Plane grating emission spectrometer Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2012.11.003 SN - 0368-2048 VL - 188 SP - 133 EP - 139 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thielemann-Kühn, Nele A1 - Schick, Daniel A1 - Pontius, Niko A1 - Trabant, Christoph A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Holldack, Karsten A1 - Zabel, Hartmut A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian T1 - Ultrafast and Energy-Efficient Quenching of Spin Order: Antiferromagnetism Beats Ferromagnetism JF - Physical review letters N2 - By comparing femtosecond laser pulse induced ferro- and antiferromagnetic dynamics in one and the same material-metallic dysprosium-we show both to behave fundamentally different. Antiferromagnetic order is considerably faster and much more efficiently reduced by optical excitation than its ferromagnetic counterpart. We assign the fast and extremely efficient process in the antiferromagnet to an interatomic transfer of angular momentum within the spin system. Our findings imply that this angular momentum transfer channel is effective in other magnetic metals with nonparallel spin alignment. They also point out a possible route towards energy-efficient spin manipulation for magnetic devices. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.197202 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 119 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER -