New opportunities in x-ray spectroscopy at high intensity

Sang-Kil Son

[BibTeX][pdf]

Understanding the interaction of intense x-ray pulses with atoms is crucial for many experiments with x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). When atoms are exposed to XFEL pulses, they undergo complex ionization dynamics, producing transient exotic states and highly charged ions after absorbing many x-ray photons sequentially. This x-ray multiphoton ionization mechanism has been the key concept to understand the XFEL–atom interaction, since the first XFEL experiment of Ne gas was conducted. I will briefly review the x-ray multiphoton ionization model and introduce a dedicated theoretical toolkit, XATOM. Can we visualize the complex charge-up pathways? Will it be possible to map out all the transient resonances that are formed during the ionization dynamics? With a combination of latest development of XATOM and free tunability of the photon energy at European XFEL, I will present how to answer those questions and discuss new opportunities of x-ray ion spectroscopy and x-ray emission spectroscopy with intense XFEL pulses.

Tags: XATOM, Ne, Xe, European XFEL, CFEL, DESY