Simultaneous mapping of the ultrafast time and fluence dependence of the laser-induced insulator-to-metal transition in magnetite

TL;DR

Scientists developed a new imaging method to study ultrafast changes in magnetite using a single laser shot, capturing both time and intensity effects.

Contribution

A novel time-to-space mapping imaging scheme allows simultaneous measurement of ultrafast dynamics across multiple parameters in a single shot.

Findings

The imaging scheme captures a range of delays and laser fluences in a single shot.

The ultrafast dynamics of the insulator-to-metal Verwey transition in magnetite were successfully mapped.

The method is shown to be applicable to high-energy x-ray free-electron laser experiments.

Abstract

Pump-probe methods are a ubiquitous tool in the field of ultrafast dynamic measurements. In recent years, x-ray free-electron laser experiments have gained importance due to their ability to probe with high chemical selectivity and at atomic length scales. Measurements are typically repeated many thousands of times to collect sufficient statistics and vary parameters like delay or fluence, necessitating that initial conditions are restored each time. An alternative is presented by experiments which measure the relevant parameters in a single shot. Here, we present a time-to-space mapping imaging scheme that enables us to record a range of delays and laser fluences in any single shot of the x-ray probe. We demonstrate the use of this scheme by mapping the ultrafast dynamics of the optically induced insulator-to-metal Verwey transition in a magnetite thin film, probed by soft x-ray resonant diffraction. By extrapolating our results toward the conditions found at x-ray free-electron lasers with higher photon energy, we demonstrate that the presented data could be recorded in a single shot.

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