Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 21 November 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5649, pp. 1382 - 1385
DOI: 10.1126/science.1090052
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

An Atomic-Level View of Melting Using Femtosecond Electron Diffraction

Bradley J. Siwick, Jason R. Dwyer, Robert E. Jordan, R. J. Dwayne Miller

We used 600-femtosecond electron pulses to study the structural evolution of aluminum as it underwent an ultrafast laser–induced solid-liquid phase transition. Real-time observations showed the loss of long-range order that was present in the crystalline phase and the emergence of the liquid structure where only short-range atomic correlations were present; this transition occurred in 3.5picoseconds for thin-film aluminum with an excitation fluence of 70 millijoules per square centimeter. The sensitivity and time resolution were sufficient to capture the time-dependent pair correlation function as the system evolved from the solid to the liquid state. These observations provide an atomic-level description of the melting process, in which the dynamics are best understood as a thermal phase transition under strongly driven conditions.

Departments of Chemistry and Physics, 80 St. George Street, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Time-Resolved Molecular Frame Dynamics of Fixed-in-Space CS2 Molecules.
C. Z. Bisgaard, O. J. Clarkin, G. Wu, A. M. D. Lee, O. Gessner, C. C. Hayden, and A. Stolow (2009)
Science 323, 1464-1468
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Formation of Warm Dense Matter: Experimental Evidence for Electronic Bond Hardening in Gold.
R. Ernstorfer, M. Harb, C. T. Hebeisen, G. Sciaini, T. Dartigalongue, and R. J. D. Miller (2009)
Science 323, 1033-1037
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Laser-Induced Electron Tunneling and Diffraction.
M. Meckel, D. Comtois, D. Zeidler, A. Staudte, D. Pavicic, H. C. Bandulet, H. Pepin, J. C. Kieffer, R. Dorner, D. M. Villeneuve, et al. (2008)
Science 320, 1478-1482
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
4D Visualization of Transitional Structures in Phase Transformations by Electron Diffraction.
P. Baum, D.-S. Yang, and A. H. Zewail (2007)
Science 318, 788-792
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Imaging Atomic Structure and Dynamics with Ultrafast X-ray Scattering.
K. J. Gaffney and H. N. Chapman (2007)
Science 316, 1444-1448
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ultracold Neutral Plasmas.
T. C. Killian (2007)
Science 316, 705-708
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Cuprates Observed by Ultrafast Electron Crystallography.
N. Gedik, D.-S. Yang, G. Logvenov, I. Bozovic, and A. H. Zewail (2007)
Science 316, 425-429
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Breaking resolution limits in ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy.
P. Baum and A. H. Zewail (2006)
PNAS 103, 16105-16110
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: Monitoring molecular dynamics using coherent electrons from high harmonic generation.
N. L. Wagner, A. Wuest, I. P. Christov, T. Popmintchev, X. Zhou, M. M. Murnane, and H. C. Kapteyn (2006)
PNAS 103, 13279-13285
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Spatiotemporal reaction kinetics of an ultrafast photoreaction pathway visualized by time-resolved liquid x-ray diffraction.
T. K. Kim, M. Lorenc, J. H. Lee, M. Lo Russo, J. Kim, M. Cammarata, Q. Kong, S. Noel, A. Plech, M. Wulff, et al. (2006)
PNAS 103, 9410-9415
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Femtosecond electron diffraction: 'making the molecular movie'.
J. R Dwyer, C. T Hebeisen, R. Ernstorfer, M. Harb, V. B Deyirmenjian, R. E Jordan, and R.J Dwayne Miller (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc A 364, 741-778
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ultrafast X-ray Diffraction of Transient Molecular Structures in Solution.
H. Ihee, M. Lorenc, T. K. Kim, Q. Y. Kong, M. Cammarata, J. H. Lee, S. Bratos, and M. Wulff (2005)
Science 309, 1223-1227
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Atomic-Scale Visualization of Inertial Dynamics.
A. M. Lindenberg, J. Larsson, K. Sokolowski-Tinten, K. J. Gaffney, C. Blome, O. Synnergren, J. Sheppard, C. Caleman, A. G. MacPhee, D. Weinstein, et al. (2005)
Science 308, 392-395
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ultrafast Electron Crystallography of Interfacial Water.
C.-Y. Ruan, V. A. Lobastov, F. Vigliotti, S. Chen, and A. H. Zewail (2004)
Science 304, 80-84
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)