Photon energy dependence of graphitization threshold for diamond irradiated with an intense XUV FEL pulse

J. Gaudin, N. Medvedev, J. Chalupský, T. Burian, S. Dastjani-Farahani, V. Hájková, M. Harmand, H. O. Jeschke, L. Juha, M. Jurek, D. Klinger, J. Krzywinski, R. A. Loch, S. Moeller, M. Nagasono, C. Ozkan, K. Saksl, H. Sinn, R. Sobierajski, P. SovákS. Toleikis, K. Tiedtke, M. Toufarová, T. Tschentscher, V. Vorlíček, L. Vyšín, H. Wabnitz, B. Ziaja

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27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We studied experimentally and theoretically the structural transition of diamond under an irradiation with an intense femtosecond extreme ultraviolet laser (XUV) pulse of 24-275 eV photon energy provided by free-electron lasers. Experimental results obtained show that the irradiated diamond undergoes a solid-to-solid phase transition to graphite, and not to an amorphous state. Our theoretical findings suggest that the nature of this transition is nonthermal, stimulated by a change of the interatomic potential triggered by the excitation of valence electrons. Ultrashort laser pulse duration enables to identify the subsequent steps of this process: electron excitation, band gap collapse, and the following atomic motion. A good agreement between the experimentally measured and theoretically calculated damage thresholds for the XUV range supports our conclusions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number060101
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume88
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 7 2013
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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