Measurement of transient atomic displacements in thin films with picosecond and femtometer resolution
Abstract
We report measurements of the transient structural response of weakly photo-excited thin films of BiFeO3, Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, and Bi and time-scales for interfacial thermal transport. Utilizing picosecond x-ray diffraction at a 1.28 MHz repetition rate with time resolution extending down to 15 ps, transient changes in the diffraction angle are recorded. These changes are associated with photo-induced lattice strains within nanolayer thin films, resolved at the part-per-million level, corresponding to a shift in the scattering angle three orders of magnitude smaller than the rocking curve width and changes in the interlayer lattice spacing of fractions of a femtometer. The combination of high brightness, repetition rate, and stability of the synchrotron, in conjunction with high time resolution, represents a novel means to probe atomic-scale, near-equilibrium dynamics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2014
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4875347
Entities
People
- A. Damodaran
- A. M. Lindenberg
- A. Mehta
- C. Uher
- D. A. Reis
- E. Szilagyi
- J. Corbett
- J. S. Wittenberg
- J. Safranek
- L. Peter Martin
- M. Kozina
- M. Trigo
- T. A. Miller
- Tao Hu
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
- Stanford University
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
- University of Michigan