Ultrafast X-ray-induced dephasing of valence electrons
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arXiv: 2611.03635v1 · Summary page
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X-rays can scramble the electrons before atoms move
An ultrashort X-ray pulse can record a crystal before its atoms have time to move appreciably. But that does not guarantee a faithful picture of its bonding electrons. In silicon, researchers use broadband X-ray pulses whose changing photon energy encodes time, comparing diffraction reflections sensitive to valence electrons with simultaneously measured reflections dominated by atomic cores.
The bonding-electron signal loses coherence rapidly, even at pulse energies where direct ionization is negligible. The finding challenges the assumption that outrunning atomic motion is enough to avoid measurement damage: electronic order can change first. It also suggests a way to separate electronic and lattice dynamics, an important distinction wherever X-ray measurements are used to infer bonding or charge distributions.
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