TY - JOUR A1 - Arhammar, C. A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Bock, Nicolas A1 - Holmstroem, Erik A1 - Araujo, C. Moyses A1 - Grasjo, Johan A1 - Zhao, Shuxi A1 - Green, Sara A1 - Peery, T. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Amerioun, Shahrad A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schlappa, Justine A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Niklasson, Gunnar A. A1 - Wallace, Duane C. A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Johansson, Borje A1 - Ahuja, Rajeev C. T1 - Unveiling the complex electronic structure of amorphous metal oxides JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material's science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today's integrated circuits. Therefore the investigation of defect states in these structures is crucial. In this work we present X-ray synchrotron measurements, with an energy resolution which is about 5-10 times higher than is attainable with standard spectrometers, of amorphous alumina. We demonstrate that our experimental results are in agreement with calculated spectra of amorphous alumina which we have generated by stochastic quenching. This first principles method, which we have recently developed, is found to be superior to molecular dynamics in simulating the rapid gas to solid transition that takes place as this material is deposited for thin film applications. We detect and analyze in detail states in the band gap that originate from oxygen pairs. Similar states were previously found in amorphous alumina by other spectroscopic methods and were assigned to oxygen vacancies claimed to act mutually as electron and hole traps. The oxygen pairs which we probe in this work act as hole traps only and will influence the information retention in electronic devices. In amorphous silica oxygen pairs have already been found, thus they may be a feature which is characteristic also of other amorphous metal oxides. KW - stochastic quench KW - X-ray absorption spectroscopy KW - ab initio KW - coating Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019698108 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 108 IS - 16 SP - 6355 EP - 6360 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Norell, Jesper A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Hantschmann, Markus A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Van Kuiken, Benjamin E. A1 - Ross, Matthew A1 - Minitti, Michael P. A1 - Moeller, Stefan P. A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Khalil, Munira A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Ultrafast Independent N-H and N-C Bond Deformation Investigated with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering JF - Angewandte Chemie : a journal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; International edition N2 - The femtosecond excited-state dynamics following resonant photoexcitation enable the selective deformation of N-H and N-C chemical bonds in 2-thiopyridone in aqueous solution with optical or X-ray pulses. In combination with multiconfigurational quantum-chemical calculations, the orbital-specific electronic structure and its ultrafast dynamics accessed with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the N 1s level using synchrotron radiation and the soft X-ray free-electron laser LCLS provide direct evidence for this controlled photoinduced molecular deformation and its ultrashort time-scale. KW - nitrogen KW - photochemistry KW - protonation KW - RIXS (resonant inelastic X-ray scattering) KW - selective bond cleavage Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201700239 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 56 SP - 6088 EP - 6092 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ertan, Emelie A1 - Savchenko, Viktoriia A1 - Ignatova, Nina A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinicius A1 - Couto, Rafael C. A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Dantz, Marcus A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Kimberg, Victor T1 - Ultrafast dissociation features in RIXS spectra of the water molecule JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - In this combined theoretical and experimental study we report on an analysis of the resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra of gas phase water via the lowest dissociative core-excited state |1s−1O4a11〉. We focus on the spectral feature near the dissociation limit of the electronic ground state. We show that the narrow atomic-like peak consists of the overlapping contribution from the RIXS channels back to the ground state and to the first valence excited state |1b−114a11〉 of the molecule. The spectral feature has signatures of ultrafast dissociation (UFD) in the core-excited state, as we show by means of ab initio calculations and time-dependent nuclear wave packet simulations. We show that the electronically elastic RIXS channel gives substantial contribution to the atomic-like resonance due to the strong bond length dependence of the magnitude and orientation of the transition dipole moment. By studying the RIXS for an excitation energy scan over the core-excited state resonance, we can understand and single out the molecular and atomic-like contributions in the decay to the lowest valence-excited state. Our study is complemented by a theoretical discussion of RIXS in the case of isotopically substituted water (HDO and D2O) where the nuclear dynamics is significantly affected by the heavier fragments' mass. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp01807c SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 21 SP - 14384 EP - 14397 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Born, Artur A1 - Decker, Regis A1 - Haverkamp, Robert A1 - Ruotsalainen, Kari A1 - Bauer, Karl A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Büchner, Robby T1 - Thresholding of the Elliott-Yafet spin-flip scattering in multi-sublattice magnets by the respective exchange energies JF - Scientific reports N2 - How different microscopic mechanisms of ultrafast spin dynamics coexist and interplay is not only relevant for the development of spintronics but also for the thorough description of physical systems out-of-equilibrium. In pure crystalline ferromagnets, one of the main microscopic mechanism of spin relaxation is the electron-phonon (el-ph) driven spin-flip, or Elliott-Yafet, scattering. Unexpectedly, recent experiments with ferro- and ferrimagnetic alloys have shown different dynamics for the different sublattices. These distinct sublattice dynamics are contradictory to the Elliott-Yafet scenario. In order to rationalize this discrepancy, it has been proposed that the intra- and intersublattice exchange interaction energies must be considered in the microscopic demagnetization mechanism, too. Here, using a temperature-dependent x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) method, we address experimentally the element specific el-ph angular momentum transfer rates, responsible for the spin-flips in the respective (sub)lattices of Fe20Ni80, Fe50Ni50 and pure nickel single crystals. We establish how the deduced rate evolution with the temperature is linked to the exchange coupling constants reported for different alloy stoichiometries and how sublattice exchange energies threshold the related el-ph spin-flip channels. Thus, these results evidence that the Elliott-Yafet spin-flip scattering, thresholded by sublattice exchange energies, is the relevant microscopic process to describe sublattice dynamics in alloys and elemental magnetic systems. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81177-9 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 11 IS - 1 PB - Springer Nature CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Büchner, Robby A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Haverkamp, Robert A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinícius A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - The porphyrin center as a regulator for metal-ligand covalency and pi hybridization in the entire molecule JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - The central moiety of porphyrins is shown to control the charge state of the inner complex and links it by covalent interaction to the peripheral substituents. This link, which enables the versatile functions of porphyrins, is not picked up in the established, reduced four orbital picture [Gouterman, J. Mol. Spectrosc., 1961, 6, 138]. X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the N K-edge with density functional theory approaches gives access to the full electronic structure, in particular the pi* manifold beyond the Gouterman orbitals. Systematic variation of the central moiety highlights two linked, governing trends: The ionicity of the porphyrin center increases from the aminic N-H to N-Cu to N-Zn to N-Mg to the iminic N:. At the same time covalency with peripheral substituents increases and compensates the buildup of high charge density at the coordinated nitrogen sites. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp03944j SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 23 IS - 43 SP - 24765 EP - 24772 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jay, Raphael Martin A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Norell, Jesper A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Niskanen, Johannes A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - The nature of frontier orbitals under systematic ligand exchange in (pseudo-)octahedral Fe(II) complexes JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Understanding and controlling properties of transition metal complexes is a crucial step towards tailoring materials for sustainable energy applications. In a systematic approach, we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to study the influence of ligand substitution on the valence electronic structure around an aqueous iron(II) center. Exchanging cyanide with 2-2′-bipyridine ligands reshapes frontier orbitals in a way that reduces metal 3d charge delocalization onto the ligands. This net decrease of metal–ligand covalency results in lower metal-centered excited state energies in agreement with previously reported excited state dynamics. Furthermore, traces of solvent-effects were found indicating a varying interaction strength of the solvent with ligands of different character. Our results demonstrate how ligand exchange can be exploited to shape frontier orbitals of transition metal complexes in solution-phase chemistry; insights upon which future efforts can built when tailoring the functionality of photoactive systems for light-harvesting applications. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp04341h SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 44 SP - 27745 EP - 27751 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinicius A1 - Büchner, Robby A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Targeting individual tautomers in equilibrium by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - Tautomerism is one of the most important forms of isomerism, owing to the facile interconversion between species and the large differences in chemical properties introduced by the proton transfer connecting the tautomers. Spectroscopic techniques are often used for the characterization of tautomers. In this context, separating the overlapping spectral response of coexisting tautomers is a long-standing challenge in chemistry. Here, we demonstrate that by using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering tuned to the core excited states at the site of proton exchange between tautomers one is able to experimentally disentangle the manifold of valence excited states of each tautomer in a mixture. The technique is applied to the prototypical keto-enol equilibrium of 3-hydroxypyridine in aqueous solution. We detect transitions from the occupied orbitals into the LUMO for each tautomer in solution, which report on intrinsic and hydrogen-bond-induced orbital polarization within the pi and sigma manifolds at the proton-transfer site. KW - Equilibrium KW - Molecular structure KW - Molecules KW - Nitrogen KW - Solvents Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03453 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 13 IS - 10 SP - 2459 EP - 2466 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Decker, Regis A1 - Born, Artur A1 - Ruotsalainen, Kari A1 - Bauer, Karl A1 - Haverkamp, Robert A1 - Büchner, Robby A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Spin-lattice angular momentum transfer of localized and valence electrons in the demagnetization transient state of gadolinium JF - Applied physics letters N2 - The electron-phonon scattering is one of the main microscopic mechanisms responsible for the spin-flip in the transient state of ultrafast demagnetization. Here, we present an experimental determination of the temperature-dependent electron-phonon scattering rate in Gd. Using a static x-ray emission spectroscopy method, where the reduction of the decay peak intensities when increasing the temperature is quantified, we measure independently the electron-phonon scattering rate for the 5d and the 4f electrons. We deduce the temperature dependence of scattering for the 5d electrons, while no effect on the phonon population is observed for the 4f electrons. Our results suggest that the ultrafast magnetization dynamics in Gd is triggered by the spin-flip in the 5d electrons. We also evidence the existence of a temperature threshold, above which spin-flip scattering of the 5d electrons takes place. We deduce that during the transient state of ultrafast demagnetization, the exchange energy between 5d electrons has to be overcome before the microscopic electron-phonon scattering process can occur. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0063404 SN - 0003-6951 SN - 1077-3118 VL - 119 IS - 15 PB - AIP Publishing CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Sun, Y. -P. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rinkevicius, Z. A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. T1 - Spatial quantum beats in vibrational resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering at dissociating states in oxygen JF - Physical review letters N2 - Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra excited at the 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O-2 show excitations due to the nuclear degrees of freedom with up to 35 well-resolved discrete vibronic states and a continuum due to the kinetic energy distribution of the separated atoms. The RIXS profile demonstrates spatial quantum beats caused by two interfering wave packets with different momenta as the atoms separate. Thomson scattering strongly affects both the spectral profile and the scattering anisotropy. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.153004 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 106 IS - 15 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Miedema, Piter S. A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Schlappa, Justine A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Snapshots of the Fluctuating Hydrogen Bond Network in Liquid Water on the Sub-Femtosecond Timescale with Vibrational Resonant Inelastic x-ray Scattering JF - Physical review letters N2 - Liquid water molecules interact strongly with each other, forming a fluctuating hydrogen bond network and thereby giving rise to the anomalous phase diagram of liquid water. Consequently, symmetric and asymmetric water molecules have been found in the picosecond time average with IR and optical Raman spectroscopy. With subnatural linewidth resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at vibrational resolution, we take sub-femtosecond snapshots of the electronic and structural properties of water molecules in the hydrogen bond network. We derive a strong dominance of nonsymmetric molecules in liquid water in contrast to the gas phase on the sub-femtosecond timescale of RIXS and determine the fraction of highly asymmetrically distorted molecules. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.088302 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 114 IS - 8 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Couto, Rafael C. A1 - Cruz, Vinicius V. A1 - Ertan, Emelie A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Dantz, Marcus A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Guimaraes, Freddy F. A1 - Agren, Hans A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Kimberg, Victor A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Selective gating to vibrational modes through resonant X-ray scattering JF - Nature Communications N2 - The dynamics of fragmentation and vibration of molecular systems with a large number of coupled degrees of freedom are key aspects for understanding chemical reactivity and properties. Here we present a resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) study to show how it is possible to break down such a complex multidimensional problem into elementary components. Local multimode nuclear wave packets created by X-ray excitation to different core-excited potential energy surfaces (PESs) will act as spatial gates to selectively probe the particular ground-state vibrational modes and, hence, the PES along these modes. We demonstrate this principle by combining ultra-high resolution RIXS measurements for gas-phase water with state-of-the-art simulations. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14165 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 8 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Soderstrom, Johan A1 - Binggeli, Christian A1 - Grasjo, Joakim A1 - Andersson, Johan A1 - Sathe, Conny A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Bisogni, Valentina A1 - Huang, Yaobo A1 - Olalde, Paul A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Pietzsch, Annette T1 - Rydberg-Resolved Resonant Inelastic Soft X-Ray Scattering: Dynamics at Core Ionization Thresholds JF - Physical review letters N2 - Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra excited in the immediate vicinity of the core-level ionization thresholds of N-2 have been recorded. Final states of well-resolved symmetry-selected Rydberg series converging to valence-level ionization thresholds with vibrational excitations are observed. The results are well described by a quasi-two-step model which assumes that the excited electron is unaffected by the radiative decay. This threshold dynamics simplifies the interpretation of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra considerably and facilitates characterization of low-energy excited final states in molecular systems. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.133001 SN - 0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 114 IS - 13 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Berglund, Martin A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik T1 - Resonant inelastic scattering spectra of free molecules with vibrational resolution N2 - Inelastic x-ray scattering spectra excited at the 1s(-1) pi* resonance of gas phase O-2 have been recorded with an overall energy resolution that allows for well-resolved vibrational progressions. The nuclear wave packet dynamics in the intermediate state is reflected in vibrational excitations of the electronic ground state, and by fine-tuning the excitation energy the dissociation dynamics in the predissociative B' (3) Pi(g) final state is controlled. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://prl.aps.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/Physrevlett.104.193002 SN - 0031-9007 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Zhong A1 - Rajkovic, Ivan A1 - Kubicek, Katharina A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Wernet, Philippe A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Techert, Simone T1 - Probing the Hofmeister effect with ultrafast core-hole spectroscopy JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - In the current work, X-ray emission spectra of aqueous solutions of different inorganic salts within the Hofmeister series are presented. The results reflect the direct interaction of the ions with the water molecules and therefore, reveal general properties of the salt-water interactions. Within the experimental precision a significant effect of the ions on the water structure has been observed but no ordering according to the structure maker/structure breaker concept could be mirrored in the results indicating that the Hofmeister effect if existent may be caused by more complex interactions. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp504577a SN - 1520-6106 VL - 118 IS - 31 SP - 9398 EP - 9403 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinicius A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Iannuzzi, Marcella A1 - Ertan, Emelie A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Couto, Rafael C. A1 - Niskanen, Johannes A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Dantz, Marcus A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Lu, Xingye A1 - McNally, Daniel A1 - Jay, Raphael Martin A1 - Kimberg, Victor A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Odelius, Michael T1 - Probing hydrogen bond strength in liquid water by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering JF - Nature Communications N2 - Local probes of the electronic ground state are essential for understanding hydrogen bonding in aqueous environments. When tuned to the dissociative core-excited state at the O1s pre-edge of water, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering back to the electronic ground state exhibits a long vibrational progression due to ultrafast nuclear dynamics. We show how the coherent evolution of the OH bonds around the core-excited oxygen provides access to high vibrational levels in liquid water. The OH bonds stretch into the long-range part of the potential energy curve, which makes the X-ray probe more sensitive than infra-red spectroscopy to the local environment. We exploit this property to effectively probe hydrogen bond strength via the distribution of intramolecular OH potentials derived from measurements. In contrast, the dynamical splitting in the spectral feature of the lowest valence-excited state arises from the short-range part of the OH potential curve and is rather insensitive to hydrogen bonding. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08979-4 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 10 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Quevedo, Wilson A1 - Hantschmann, Markus A1 - Ochmann, Miguel A1 - Ross, Matthew A1 - Minitti, Michael P. A1 - Turner, Joshua J. A1 - Moeller, Stefan P. A1 - Schlotter, William F. A1 - Dakovski, Georgi L. A1 - Khalil, Munira A1 - Huse, Nils A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Principles of femtosecond X-ray/optical cross-correlation with X-ray induced transient optical reflectivity in solids JF - Applied physics letters N2 - The discovery of ultrafast X-ray induced optical reflectivity changes enabled the development of X-ray/optical cross correlation techniques at X-ray free electron lasers worldwide. We have now linked through experiment and theory the fundamental excitation and relaxation steps with the transient optical properties in finite solid samples. Therefore, we gain a thorough interpretation and an optimized detection scheme of X-ray induced changes to the refractive index and the X-ray/optical cross correlation response. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4907949 SN - 0003-6951 SN - 1077-3118 VL - 106 IS - 6 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinicius A1 - Ertan, Emelie A1 - Ignatova, Nina A1 - Polyutov, Sergey A1 - Couto, Rafael C. A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Dantz, Marcus A1 - Kennedy, Brian A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - One-dimensional cuts through multidimensional potential-energy surfaces by tunable x rays JF - Physical review : A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics N2 - The concept of the potential-energy surface (PES) and directional reaction coordinates is the backbone of our description of chemical reaction mechanisms. Although the eigenenergies of the nuclear Hamiltonian uniquely link a PES to its spectrum, this information is in general experimentally inaccessible in large polyatomic systems. This is due to (near) degenerate rovibrational levels across the parameter space of all degrees of freedom, which effectively forms a pseudospectrum given by the centers of gravity of groups of close-lying vibrational levels. We show here that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) constitutes an ideal probe for revealing one-dimensional cuts through the ground-state PES of molecular systems, even far away from the equilibrium geometry, where the independent-mode picture is broken. We strictly link the center of gravity of close-lying vibrational peaks in RIXS to a pseudospectrum which is shown to coincide with the eigenvalues of an effective one-dimensional Hamiltonian along the propagation coordinate of the core-excited wave packet. This concept, combined with directional and site selectivity of the core-excited states, allows us to experimentally extract cuts through the ground-state PES along three complementary directions for the showcase H2O molecule. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.97.053410 SN - 2469-9926 SN - 2469-9934 VL - 97 IS - 5 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vaz da Cruz, Vinícius A1 - Ignatova, Nina A1 - Couto, Rafael A1 - Fedotov, Daniil A1 - Rehn, Dirk R. A1 - Savchenko, Viktoriia A1 - Norman, Patrick A1 - Ågren, Hans A1 - Polyutov, Sergey A1 - Niskanen, Johannes A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Jay, Raphael Martin A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Kimberg, Victor A1 - Gel’mukhanov, Faris T1 - Nuclear dynamics in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray absorption of methanol JF - The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr N2 - We report on a combined theoretical and experimental study of core-excitation spectra of gas and liquid phase methanol as obtained with the use of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS). The electronic transitions are studied with computational methods that include strict and extended second-order algebraic diagrammatic construction [ADC(2) and ADC(2)-x], restricted active space second-order perturbation theory, and time-dependent density functional theory-providing a complete assignment of the near oxygen K-edge XAS. We show that multimode nuclear dynamics is of crucial importance for explaining the available experimental XAS and RIXS spectra. The multimode nuclear motion was considered in a recently developed "mixed representation" where dissociative states and highly excited vibrational modes are accurately treated with a time-dependent wave packet technique, while the remaining active vibrational modes are described using Franck-Condon amplitudes. Particular attention is paid to the polarization dependence of RIXS and the effects of the isotopic substitution on the RIXS profile in the case of dissociative core-excited states. Our approach predicts the splitting of the 2a RIXS peak to be due to an interplay between molecular and pseudo-atomic features arising in the course of transitions between dissociative core- and valence-excited states. The dynamical nature of the splitting of the 2a peak in RIXS of liquid methanol near pre-edge core excitation is shown. The theoretical results are in good agreement with our liquid phase measurements and gas phase experimental data available from the literature. (C) 2019 Author(s). Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5092174 SN - 0021-9606 SN - 1089-7690 VL - 150 IS - 23 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Sebastian A1 - Miedema, P. S. A1 - Quevedo, W. A1 - Fondell, Mattis A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Ross, M. A1 - Khalil, M. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Molecular structures and protonation state of 2-Mercaptopyridine in aqueous solution JF - Chemical physics letters N2 - The speciation of 2-Mercaptopyridine in aqueous solution has been investigated with nitrogen 1s Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopy and time dependent Density Functional Theory. The prevalence of distinct species as a function of the solvent basicity is established. No indications of dimerization towards high concentrations are found. The determination of different molecular structures of 2-Mercaptopyridine in aqueous solution is put into the context of proton-transfer in keto-enol and thione-thiol tautomerisms. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2016.01.050 SN - 0009-2614 SN - 1873-4448 VL - 647 SP - 103 EP - 106 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Decker, Régis A1 - Born, Artur A1 - Büchner, Robby A1 - Ruotsalainen, Kari A1 - Stråhlman, Christian A1 - Neppl, Stefan A1 - Haverkamp, Robert A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Measuring the atomic spin-flip scattering rate by x-ray emission spectroscopy JF - Scientific reports N2 - While extensive work has been dedicated to the measurement of the demagnetization time following an ultra-short laser pulse, experimental studies of its underlying microscopic mechanisms are still scarce. In transition metal ferromagnets, one of the main mechanism is the spin-flip of conduction electrons driven by electron-phonon scattering. Here, we present an original experimental method to monitor the electron-phonon mediated spin-flip scattering rate in nickel through the stringent atomic symmetry selection rules of x-ray emission spectroscopy. Increasing the phonon population leads to a waning of the 3d -> 2p(3/2) decay peak intensity, which reflects an increase of the angular momentum transfer scattering rate attributed to spin-flip. We find a spin relaxation time scale in the order of 50 fs in the 3d-band of nickel at room temperature, while consistantly, no such peak evolution is observed for the diamagnetic counterexample copper, using the same method. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45242-8 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 9 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -