Lifetime of the Xe II 5s5p62S1/2state

Time-resolved synchrotron radiation excited optical luminescence: light-emission properties of silicon-based nanostructures

The recent advances in the study of light emission from matter induced by synchrotron radiation: X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) in the energy domain and time-resolved X-ray excited optical luminescence (TRXEOL) are described. The development of these element (absorption edge) selective, synchrotron X-ray photons in, optical photons out techniques with time gating coincide with advances in third-generation, insertion device based, synchrotron light sources. Electron bunches circulating in a storage ring emit very bright, widely energy tunable, short light pulses (<100 ps), which are used as the excitation source for investigation of light-emitting materials. Luminescence from silicon nanostructures (porous silicon, silicon nanowires, and Si-CdSe heterostructures) is used to illustrate the applicability of these techniques and their great potential in future applications.

Time-resolved measurements of short-wavelength fluorescence from x-ray-excited ions

We demonstrate a novel technique for time-resolved spectroscopic studies of highly excited ions. The technique uses a laser-produced plasma as a short-pulse, soft-x-ray light source with a high repetition rate. A Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 90 psec, a pulse energy of 70 microJ, and repetition rate of 10(4) pulses per second is focused onto a rotating metal target. Soft x rays from the resulting plasma photoionize a gas surrounding the target, and fluorescence from the gas is detected by using a spectrometer and a high-speed photodetector. Using the technique of time-correlated photon counting, we determined the radiative lifetime and collisional quenching rate of the Xe III 5s(0)5p(6)(1)S(0) state by observing its fluorescence at 108.9 nm. A time resolution of better than 400 psec was obtained. We also measured relative Auger decay yields of a core hole state in xenon using a higher-energy laser-produced plasma light source at a lower repetition rate.