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 - Beye, Martin A1 - Schreck, S. A1 - Sorgenfrei, Florian A1 - Trabant, C. A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Schüßler-Langeheine, C. A1 - Wurth, W. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Stimulated X-ray emission for materials science JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray emission spectroscopy can be used to probe the energy and dispersion of the elementary low-energy excitations that govern functionality in matter: vibronic, charge, spin and orbital excitations(1-7). A key drawback of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering has been the need for high photon densities to compensate for fluorescence yields of less than a per cent for soft X-rays(8). Sample damage from the dominant non-radiative decays thus limits the materials to which such techniques can be applied and the spectral resolution that can be obtained. A means of improving the yield is therefore highly desirable. Here we demonstrate stimulated X-ray emission for crystalline silicon at photon densities that are easily achievable with free-electron lasers(9). The stimulated radiative decay of core excited species at the expense of non-radiative processes reduces sample damage and permits narrow-bandwidth detection in the directed beam of stimulated radiation. We deduce how stimulated X-ray emission can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude to provide, with high yield and reduced sample damage, a superior probe for low-energy excitations and their dispersion in matter. This is the first step to bringing nonlinear X-ray physics in the condensed phase from theory(10-16) to application. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12449 SN - 0028-0836 VL - 501 IS - 7466 SP - 191 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London 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 - Pontius, N. A1 - Kachel, T. A1 - Schüssler-Langeheine, C. A1 - Schlotter, W. F. A1 - Beye, Martin A1 - Sorgenfrei, Florian A1 - Chang, C. F. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Wurth, W. A1 - Metcalf, P. A1 - Leonov, I. A1 - Yaresko, A. A1 - Stojanovic, N. A1 - Berglund, Martin A1 - Guerassimova, N. A1 - Duesterer, S. A1 - Redlin, H. A1 - Duerr, H. A. T1 - Time-resolved resonant soft x-ray diffraction with free-electron lasers femtosecond dynamics across the Verwey transition in magnetite JF - Applied physics letters N2 - Resonant soft x-ray diffraction (RSXD) with femtosecond (fs) time resolution is a powerful tool for disentangling the interplay between different degrees of freedom in strongly correlated electron materials. It allows addressing the coupling of particular degrees of freedom upon an external selective perturbation, e. g., by an optical or infrared laser pulse. Here, we report a time-resolved RSXD experiment from the prototypical correlated electron material magnetite using soft x-ray pulses from the free-electron laser FLASH in Hamburg. We observe ultrafast melting of the charge-orbital order leading to the formation of a transient phase, which has not been observed in equilibrium. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3584855 SN - 0003-6951 VL - 98 IS - 18 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville 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 - Eschenlohr, Andrea A1 - Battiato, M. A1 - Maldonado, R. A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Kachel, T. A1 - Holldack, K. A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Oppeneer, P. M. A1 - Stamm, C. T1 - Ultrafast spin transport as key to femtosecond demagnetization JF - Nature materials N2 - Irradiating a ferromagnet with a femtosecond laser pulse is known to induce an ultrafast demagnetization within a few hundred femtoseconds. Here we demonstrate that direct laser irradiation is in fact not essential for ultrafast demagnetization, and that electron cascades caused by hot electron currents accomplish it very efficiently. We optically excite a Au/Ni layered structure in which the 30 nm Au capping layer absorbs the incident laser pump pulse and subsequently use the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique to probe the femtosecond demagnetization of the adjacent 15 nm Ni layer. A demagnetization effect corresponding to the scenario in which the laser directly excites the Ni film is observed, but with a slight temporal delay. We explain this unexpected observation by means of the demagnetizing effect of a superdiffusive current of non-equilibrium, non-spin-polarized electrons generated in the Au layer. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3546 SN - 1476-1122 VL - 12 IS - 4 SP - 332 EP - 336 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Eschenlohr, Andrea A1 - Battiato, Mario A1 - Maldonado, P. A1 - Pontius, N. A1 - Kachel, T. A1 - Holldack, K. A1 - Mitzner, Rolf A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Oppeneer, P. M. A1 - Stamm, Christian T1 - Optical excitation of thin magnetic layers in multilayer structures Reply T2 - Nature materials Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3851 SN - 1476-1122 SN - 1476-4660 VL - 13 IS - 2 SP - 102 EP - 103 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -