Tracing electron-ion recombination in nanoplasmas produced by extreme-ultraviolet irradiation of rare-gas clusters

Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Jun 27;112(25):253401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.253401. Epub 2014 Jun 25.

Abstract

We investigate electron-ion recombination in nanoplasmas produced by the ionization of rare-gas clusters with intense femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses. The relaxation dynamics following XUV irradiation is studied using time-delayed 790-nm pulses, revealing the generation of a large number of excited atoms resulting from electron-ion recombination. In medium-sized Ar-Xe clusters, these atoms are preferentially created in the Xe core within 10 ps after the cluster ionization. The ionization of excited atoms serves as a sensitive probe for monitoring the cluster expansion dynamics up to the ns time scale.