@article{FritzReisAdamsetal., author = {Fritz, D. M. and Reis, D. A. and Adams, B. and Akre, R. A. and Arthur, J. and Blome, Christian and Bucksbaum, P. H. and Cavalieri, A. L. and Engemann, S. and Fahy, S. and Falcone, R. W. and Fuoss, P. H. and Gaffney, K. J. and George, M. J. and Hajdu, J. and Hertlein, M. P. and Hillyard, P. B. and Horn-von Hoegen, Michael and Kammler, Martin and Kaspar, J. and Kienberger, R. and Krejcik, P. and Lee, S. H. and Lindenberg, A. M. and McFarland, B. and Meyer, D. and Montagne, T. and Murray, E. D. and Nelson, A. J. and Nicoul, Matthieu and Pahl, R. and Rudati, J. and Schlarb, H. and Siddons, D. P. and Sokolowski-Tinten, Klaus and Tschentscher, Th and von der Linde, D. and Hastings, J. B.}, title = {Ultrafast bond softening in bismuth: mapping a solid's interatomic potential with X-rays}, series = {Science}, volume = {315}, journal = {Science}, number = {5812}, publisher = {AAAS}, doi = {10.1126/science.1135009}, pages = {633 -- 636}, abstract = {Intense femtosecond laser excitation can produce transient states of matter that would otherwise be inaccessible to laboratory investigation. At high excitation densities, the interatomic forces that bind solids and determine many of their properties can be substantially altered. Here, we present the detailed mapping of the carrier density-dependent interatomic potential of bismuth approaching a solid-solid phase transition. Our experiments combine stroboscopic techniques that use a high-brightness linear electron accelerator-based x-ray source with pulse-by-pulse timing reconstruction for femtosecond resolution, allowing quantitative characterization of the interatomic potential energy surface of the highly excited solid.}, language = {en} }