Attosecond momentum-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering for imaging coupled electron-hole dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel attosecond x-ray scattering technique capable of capturing ultrafast electron-hole dynamics with atomic-scale resolution, addressing the challenge of linking time-resolved signals to electronic processes.

Contribution

It proposes and demonstrates attosecond momentum-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering as a new method for imaging coupled electron-hole dynamics.

Findings

The scattering signal reveals the instantaneous charge density distribution.

Application to $ ext{α}$-sexithiophene shows capability to track electron-hole dynamics.

Technique provides atomic-scale temporal resolution.

Abstract

Improving our understanding of electron dynamics is essential for advancing energy transfer, optoelectronics, light harvesting systems and quantum computing. Recent developments in attosecond x-ray sources provide the fundamental possibility of observing these dynamics with atomic-scale resolution. However, connecting a time-resolved signal to dynamics is challenging due to the broad bandwidth of an attosecond probe pulse. This makes exploring the capabilities of different attosecond imaging techniques crucial. Here, we propose attosecond momentum-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering as a prominent technique for tracking ultrafast dynamics. We demonstrate that the scattering signal contains an information about the instantaneous distribution of charge density across the scattering atoms. To illustrate this, we consider scattering from an $\alpha$-sexithiophene molecule, in which coupled electron-hole dynamics are excited.