Phonon-Induced Relocation of Valence Charge in Boron Nitride Observed by Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction

Application of density matrix Wigner transforms for ultrafast macromolecular and chemical x-ray crystallography

Time-Resolved Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (TR-SFX) conducted at X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) has become a powerful tool for capturing macromolecular structural movies of light-initiated processes. As the capabilities of XFELs advance, we anticipate that a new range of coherent control and structural Raman measurements will become achievable. Shorter optical and x-ray pulse durations and increasingly more exotic pulse regimes are becoming available at free electron lasers. Moreover, with high repetition enabled by the superconducting technology of European XFEL (EuXFEL) and Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS-II) , it will be possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the light-induced differences, allowing for the observation of vibronic motion on the sub-Angstrom level. To predict and assign this coherent motion, which is measurable with a structural technique, new theoretical approaches must be developed. In this paper, we present a theoretical density matrix approach to model the various population and coherent dynamics of a system, which considers molecular system parameters and excitation conditions. We emphasize the use of the Wigner transform of the time-dependent density matrix, which provides a phase space representation that can be directly compared to the experimental positional displacements measured in a TR-SFX experiment. Here, we extend the results from simple models to include more realistic schemes that include large relaxation terms. We explore a variety of pulse schemes using multiple model systems using realistic parameters. An open-source software package is provided to perform the density matrix simulation and Wigner transformations. The open-source software allows us to define any arbitrary level schemes as well as any arbitrary electric field in the interaction Hamiltonian.

A modular table-top setup for ultrafast x-ray diffraction

We present a table-top setup for femtosecond time-resolved x-ray diffraction based on a Cu Kα (8.05 keV) laser driven plasma x-ray source. Due to its modular design, it provides high accessibility to its individual components (e.g., x-ray optics and sample environment). The Kα-yield of the source is optimized using a pre-pulse scheme. A magnifying multilayer x-ray mirror with Montel-Helios geometry is used to collect the emitted radiation, resulting in a quasi-collimated flux of more than 105 Cu Kα photons/pulse impinging on the sample under investigation at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. A gas ionization chamber detector is placed right after the x-ray mirror and used for the normalization of the diffraction signals, enabling the measurement of relative signal changes of less than 1% even at the given low repetition rate. Time-resolved diffraction experiments on laser-excited epitaxial Bi films serve as an example to demonstrate the capabilities of the setup. The setup can also be used for Debye-Scherrer type measurements on poly-crystalline samples.

Coherent-Phonon-Driven Intervalley Scattering and Rabi Oscillation in Multivalley 2D Materials

Resolving the complete electron scattering dynamics mediated by coherent phonons is crucial for understanding electron-phonon couplings beyond equilibrium. Here we present a time-resolved theoretical investigation on strongly coupled ultrafast electron and phonon dynamics in monolayer WSe_{2}, with a focus on the intervalley scattering from the optically "bright" K state to "dark" Q state. We find that the strong coherent lattice vibration along the longitudinal acoustic phonon mode [LA(M)] can drastically promote K-to-Q transition on a timescale of ∼400  fs, comparable with previous experimental observation on thermal-phonon-mediated electron dynamics. Further, this coherent-phonon-driven intervalley scattering occurs in an unconventional steplike manner and further induces an electronic Rabi oscillation. By constructing a two-level model and quantitatively comparing with ab initio dynamic simulations, we uncover the critical role of nonadiabatic coupling effects. Finally, a new strategy is proposed to effectively tune the intervalley scattering rates by varying the coherent phonon amplitude, which could be realized via light-induced nonlinear phononics that we hope will spark experimental investigation.