2003/11/17 by P. Abbamonte, Peter Abbamonte, K. D. Finkelstein +4
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.237401
published as Phys. Rev. Lett., 92, 237401 (2004) · 4 pages, 4 color figures
arxiv created 2003/11/17 · openalex publication_date 2004/06/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We show that the momentum flexibility of inelastic x-ray scattering may be exploited to invert its loss function, allowing real time imaging of density disturbances in a medium. We show the disturbance arising from a point source in liquid water, with a resolution of 41.3 attoseconds (4.13\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10^\ensuremath-17 s) and 1.27 \AA (1.27\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10^\ensuremath-8 cm). This result is used to determine the structure of the electron cloud around a photoexcited chromophore in solution, as well as the wake generated in water by a 9 MeV gold ion. We draw an analogy with pump-probe techniques and suggest that energy-loss scattering may be applied more generally to the study of attosecond phenomena.