Imaging Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Isolated Nanoparticles

The excitation of atomic clusters and nanodroplets in strong laser fields is an ideal model scenario for studying the ultrafast physical processes underlying the formation and evolution of highly excited matter. Particularly insightful experiments with high temporal and spatial resolution have recently become possible: Via single-particle coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) using the intense femtosecond pulses of X-ray free-electron lasers (X-FELs), a single, isolated cluster can be “snapshot”-imaged in free flight and in parallel, the residuals of this single event (e.g. ions, electrons, fluorescence) can be captured, instead of the usual averaging over ensembles of clusters [1].