@article{a304b3593ab444f6bc6443409ba21332,
title = "Transient lattice contraction in the solid-to-plasma transition",
abstract = "In condensed matter systems, strong optical excitations can induce phonon-driven processes that alter their mechanical properties. We report on a new phenomenon where a massive electronic excitation induces a collective change in the bond character that leads to transient lattice contraction. Single large van der Waals clusters were isochorically heated to a nanoplasma state with an intense 10-fs x-ray (pump) pulse. The structural evolution of the nanoplasma was probed with a second intense x-ray (probe) pulse, showing systematic contraction stemming from electron delocalization during the solid-to-plasma transition. These findings are relevant for any material in extreme conditions ranging from the time evolution of warm or hot dense matter to ultrafast imaging with intense x-ray pulses or, more generally, any situation that involves a condensed matter-to-plasma transition.",
author = "Ferguson, {Ken R.} and Maximilian Bucher and Tais Gorkhover and S{\'e}bastien Boutet and Hironobu Fukuzawa and Koglin, {Jason E.} and Yoshiaki Kumagai and Alberto Lutman and Agostino Marinelli and Marc Messerschmidt and Kiyonobu Nagaya and Jim Turner and Kiyoshi Ueda and Williams, {Garth J.} and Bucksbaum, {Philip H.} and Christoph Bostedt",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical, Geological, and Biological Sciences under contract nos. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and DE-AC02-76SF00515. T.G. thanks the Volkswagen Foundation for financial support. M.M. is thankful for the National Science Foundation award 1231306. Y.K., H.F., K.N., and K.U. are grateful for the support from the X-ray Free Electron Laser Priority Strategy Program of MEXT. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.",
year = "2016",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1126/sciadv.1500837",
language = "English",
volume = "2",
journal = "Science advances",
issn = "2375-2548",
publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",
number = "1",
}