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In single particle coherent x-ray diffraction imaging experiments, performed at x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), samples are exposed to intense x-ray pulses to obtain single-shot diffraction patterns. The high intensity induces…
Material functionality can be strongly determined by structure extending only over nanoscale distances. The pair distribution function presents an opportunity to shift structural studies beyond idealized crystal models and investigate…
Similar to the optical diffraction of light passing through a material grating, the Kapitza-Dirac effect occurs when an electron is diffracted by a standing light wave. In its original description the effect is time-independent. In the…
High-energy electrons that are used as a probe of specimens in transmission electron microscopy exhibit a complex and rich behavior due to multiple scattering. Among other things, understanding the dynamical effects is needed for a…
Structure-property relationships in ordered materials have long been a core principle in materials design. However, the intentional introduction of disorder into materials provides structural flexibility and thus access to material…
Recently strong electric fields (up to 10^9 V/cm) have been discovered, which affect the neutrons moving in noncentrosymmetric crystals. Such fields allow new polarization phenomena in neutron diffraction and optics and provide, for…
We report transient highly strained structural states in individual palladium (Pd) nanocrystals, electronically heated using an optical laser, which precede their uniform thermal expansion. Using an X-ray free-electron laser probe, the…
Understanding structure at the atomic scale is fundamental for the development of materials with improved properties. Compared to other probes providing atomic resolution, electrons offer the strongest interaction in combination with…
We demonstrate that spin-dependent electron diffraction is possible for a smooth range of transverse electron momenta in a two-photon Bragg scattering scenario of the Kapitza-Dirac effect. Our analysis is rendered possible by introducing a…
Solid state material at high pressure is prevalent throughout the Universe, and an understanding of the structure of matter under such extreme conditions, gleaned from x-ray diffraction, has been pursued for the best part of a century. The…
We report the lattice dynamics of transition metal thin films by using the ultrafast electron diffraction. We observe a suppression of the diffraction intensity in a few picosecond after the photoexcitation, which is directly interpreted as…
The diffraction pattern of a single non-periodic compact object, such as a molecule, is continuous and is proportional to the square modulus of the Fourier transform of that object. When arrayed in a crystal, the coherent sum of the…
This work proposes an innovative approach to improve Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) microscopy applied to time evolving crystals and/or non-homogeneous crystalline strain fields, identified as two major limitations of BCDI…
Strain governs not only the mechanical response of materials but also their electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. For this reason, the measurement of the 3D strain field is crucial for a detailed understanding and for further…
The development of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has enabled ultrafast X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments, which are capable of resolving electronic/vibrational transitions and structural changes in molecules, or capturing molecular…
Electrical pulse stimulation drives many important physical phenomena in condensed matter as well as in electronic systems and devices. Often, nanoscopic and mesoscopic mechanisms are hypothesized, but methods to image electrically driven…
Understanding and actively controlling the spatio-temporal dynamics of non-equilibrium electron clouds is fundamental for the design of light and electron sources, novel high-power electronic devices, and plasma-based applications. However,…
In a recent letter (F. Carbone, P. Baum, P. Rudolf, et al., Physical Review Letters 100, 2008), graphite is reported to undergo a c-axis contraction on the time scale of few picoseconds (ps) after ultrafast pulsed laser excitation. The…
On- and off-axis electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a powerful method for probing local electronic structure on single atom level. However, many materials undergo electron-beam induced transformation during the scanning…
We propose two metadynamics (MetaD)-based methodologies for efficiently mapping free energy surfaces (FESs) of multiple interacting carriers diffusing in crystalline solids. Our approaches circumvent the challenges of high-dimensional…