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Abstract: Advances in the development of lasers have led to a new class of radiation sources generating coherent, tunable, ultrashort light pulses in the spectral region ranging from infrared to soft X-rays. This includes high-order harmonics generation in gas (HHG), on which relies the CITIUS facility at University of Nova Gorica (Slovenia), and free-electron lasers (FELs), such as the facility FERMI at Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste (Italy). The distinctive structure of HHG and FEL radiation paved the way to time-resolved experiments, which are performed to investigate events occurring on a short, or very short, temporal scale, from picoseconds to femtoseconds. This work focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of some experimental techniques based on using these novel light sources to investigate the microscopic and/or ultrafast dynamics of matter samples, which have been previously driven out of equilibrium. Advantages rely on the implementation of various applications based on two-color schemes and, more specifically, include the possibility of acquiring two-dimensional frequency maps, measuring electrons’ effective masses, or investigating electronic properties decoupled from the influence of the lattice. Particular focus will be put on experimental methods relying on photoelectric effect and photoelectron spectroscopy. In all experiments, we took advantage of one or more specific properties of HHG and FEL sources, such as controllable chirp, to study laser dressed states in helium, variable polarization, to study electronic properties of iron-based pnictides and ultrashort pulses (< 10 fs) to study the purely electronic dynamics in transition metal dichalcogenides. On the other hand, the study of the interface between a molecule and a topological insulator revealed some intrinsic limitations and physical drawbacks of the technique, such as spurious effects originating from the high power pulses, like multiphoton absorption and the space charge effect, or the reduction of experimental resolution when pushing for shorter and shorter pulse durations. Some disadvantages are also connected to the current state-of-the-art in the field of ultrashort laser systems, where a trade-off needs to be found between repetition rate and laser power. Finally, state-of-the-art experiments based on the ability to generate ultrashort pulses carrying orbital angular momentum in visible, near-infrared as well as extreme UV range will be presented. The use of these pulses opens the door to the investigation of new physical phenomena, such as probing magnetic vortices using extreme ultraviolet light from a free-electron laser or imprinting the spatial distribution of an ultrashort infrared pulse carrying orbital angular momentum onto a photoelectron wave packet.
Found in: ključnih besedah
Summary of found: ...high-order harmonic generation, free-electron lasers, hot-electrons dynamics, surface science, pump-probe photoemission, ultraviolet photoemission, orbital angular...
Keywords: ultrafast lasers, two-color experiments, photoemission, high-order harmonic generation, free-electron lasers, hot-electrons dynamics, surface science, pump-probe photoemission, ultraviolet photoemission, orbital angular momentum
Published: 02.12.2020; Views: 2741; Downloads: 100
Fulltext (19,78 MB)

Abstract: The azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of signals in Auger surface detector stations is a source of information on shower development. The azimuthal asymmetry is due to a combination of the longitudinal evolution of the shower and geometrical effects related to the angles of incidence of the particles into the detectors. The magnitude of the effect depends upon the zenith angle and state of development of the shower and thus provides a novel observable sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays above 3 × 10[sup]18 eV. By comparing measurements with predictions from shower simulations, we find for both of our adopted models of hadronic physics (QGSJetII- 04 and Epos-LHC) an indication that the mean cosmic-ray mass increases with energy, as has been inferred from other studies. However the absolute values derived for the mass are dependent on the shower model and on the range of distance from the shower core selected. Thus the method has uncovered further deficiencies in our understanding of shower modelling that must be resolved before the mass composition can be inferred from (sec θ)max.
Found in: ključnih besedah
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, Surface Detector, risetime of detector signal, azimuthal asymmetry, extensive air showers
Published: 03.03.2016; Views: 4015; Downloads: 192
Fulltext (243,04 KB)

Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger) in Mendoza, Argentina and the Telescope Array (TA) in Utah, USA aim at unraveling the origin and nature of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). At present, there appear to be subtle differences between Auger and TA results and interpretations. Joint working groups have been established and have already reported preliminary findings. From an experimental standpoint, the Surface Detectors (SD) of both experiments make use of different detection processes not equally sensitive to the components of the extensive air showers making it to the ground. In particular, the muonic component of the shower measured at ground level can be traced back to the primary composition, which is critical for understanding the origin of UHECRs. In order to make direct comparisons between the SD detection techniques used by Auger and TA, a joint SD experimental research program is being developed. In the first phase, two Auger SD stations were deployed at the TA Central Laser Facility to compare station-level responses. This paper concentrates on the results obtained with the first Auger SD station (an “Auger North” design), which has been operating since October 2014. The second Auger SD station, identical to the ones being operated at Auger in Argentina (an “Auger South” design), was just deployed in June 2015. The second phase of this research program will be to co-locate six Auger North SD stations with TA stations in the field to compare event-level responses.
Found in: ključnih besedah
Keywords: Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays, Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array, extensive air showers, secondary cosmic rays, muonic shower component, surface detectors
Published: 08.03.2016; Views: 3898; Downloads: 183
Fulltext (1,42 MB)

Abstract: The azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of signals in Auger surface detector stations is a source of information on shower development. The azimuthal asymmetry is due to a combination of the longitudinal evolution of the shower and geometrical effects related to the angles of incidence of the particles into the detectors. The magnitude of the effect depends upon the zenith angle and state of development of the shower and thus provides a novel observable, (secθ)max, sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays above 3×1018  eV. By comparing measurements with predictions from shower simulations, we find for both of our adopted models of hadronic physics (QGSJETII-04 and EPOS-LHC) an indication that the mean cosmic-ray mass increases slowly with energy, as has been inferred from other studies. However, the mass estimates are dependent on the shower model and on the range of distance from the shower core selected. Thus the method has uncovered further deficiencies in our understanding of shower modeling that must be resolved before the mass composition can be inferred from (secθ)max.
Found in: ključnih besedah
Keywords: ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR), UHECR mass composition, Pierre Auger Observatory, extensive air showers, Auger Surface Detector signals risetime, azimuthal symmetry
Published: 15.04.2016; Views: 4660; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (698,19 KB)

Abstract: The structural patterns formed by molecular self-assembly at surfaces are usually controlled by the relative strengths of the intermolecular and molecule–substrate interactions. An additional steering effect is present when the substrate can easily reconstruct upon molecular adsorption, which therefore drives a self-templating effect on the metal support. This is here demonstrated for the model case of Fe-phthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on the Au(110) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that molecular adsorption promotes a local (1 × 5) surface reconstruction, which drives the assembly of molecular chains along the [11̅0] direction. The order and periodicity of the molecular assemblies are determined with low energy electron diffraction patterns. Density functional theory calculations reveal the energetic origins of the molecule-driven substrate reconstruction. Since the function of molecular overlayers at surfaces is strongly correlated to their structure, these results have implications in the design of new metal/molecular interfaces.
Found in: ključnih besedah
Summary of found: ...structural patterns formed by molecular self-assembly at surfaces are usually controlled by the relative strengths...
Keywords: self-assembly, phthalocyanine, Au(110), DFT, density functional theory, simulation, surface, recontruction
Published: 11.10.2016; Views: 3978; Downloads: 0
Fulltext (2,97 MB)