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Liquid explosions induced by X-ray laser pulses

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 966–971 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Explosions are spectacular and intriguing phenomena that expose the dynamics of matter under extreme conditions. We investigated, using time-resolved imaging, explosions induced by ultraintense X-ray laser pulses in water drops and jets. Our observations revealed an explosive vaporization followed by high-velocity interacting flows of liquid and vapour, and by the generation of shock trains in the liquid jets. These flows are different from those previously observed in laser ablation, owing to a simpler spatial pattern of X-ray absorption. We show that the explosion dynamics in our experiments is consistent with a redistribution of absorbed energy, mediated by a pressure or shock wave in the liquid, and we model the effects of explosions, including their adverse impact on X-ray laser experiments. X-ray laser explosions have predictable dynamics that may prove useful for controlling the state of pure liquids over broad energy scales and timescales, and for triggering pressure-sensitive molecular dynamics in solutions.

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Figure 1: Inducing liquid microexplosions with ultraintense X-ray pulses.
Figure 2: Drop explosions induced by XFEL pulses.
Figure 3: Quantitative dynamics of drop explosions.
Figure 4: Jet explosions induced by XFEL pulses.
Figure 5: A model for the vapour-driven growth of the gap.
Figure 6: The propagation of XFEL-induced shock waves in jets.

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Acknowledgements

The work was primarily supported by the in-house research programme at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division. Use of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515. S.Botha, K.N., I.S. and R.L.S. acknowledge support from the Max Planck Society. The development of the optical imaging set-up was partially supported by the Human Frontiers Science Project Award RPG005/2011, and by the SLAC Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program. We thank R. Curtis for his assistance in assembling the experiment and S. Hau-Riege for discussions.

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Author notes

  1. Marc Messerschmidt, Garth J. Williams & Sabine Botha

    Present address: Present addresses: National Science Foundation BioXFEL Science and Technology Center, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA (M.M.); Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA (G.J.W.); Department of Chemistry, Hamburg University, 20146 Hamburg, Germany (S.Botha).,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford PULSE Institute, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Claudiu A. Stan, Hartawan Laksmono & Raymond G. Sierra

  2. Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Despina Milathianaki, Marc Messerschmidt, Garth J. Williams, Jason E. Koglin, Thomas J. Lane, Matt J. Hayes, Serge A. H. Guillet, Mengning Liang, Andrew L. Aquila, Philip R. Willmott, Joseph S. Robinson, Karl L. Gumerlock & Sébastien Boutet

  3. SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Trevor A. McQueen

  4. Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland

    Philip R. Willmott

  5. Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

    Sabine Botha, Karol Nass, Ilme Schlichting & Robert L. Shoeman

  6. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

    Howard A. Stone

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Contributions

C.A.S. and S.Boutet conceived the experiment; C.A.S., D.M., R.G.S., T.A.M., M.M., G.J.W., J.E.K., M.J.H., S.A.H.G., J.S.R., K.L.G., S.Botha, K.N., I.S., R.L.S. and S.Boutet designed, developed and built the experimental apparatus; C.A.S., H.L., M.M., G.J.W., J.E.K., M.L., A.L.A., P.R.W., S.Botha, K.N., I.S., R.L.S. and S.Boutet carried out the experiments; C.A.S., H.L. and T.J.L. processed the data; C.A.S., D.M. and H.A.S. interpreted the data; C.A.S. developed the fluid dynamics models; C.A.S., D.M., I.S., R.L.S., H.A.S. and S.Boutet wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Claudiu A. Stan.

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Stan, C., Milathianaki, D., Laksmono, H. et al. Liquid explosions induced by X-ray laser pulses. Nature Phys 12, 966–971 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3779

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