Abstract
The new regime of resonant nuclear photoexcitation rendered possible by x-ray free-electron laser beams interacting with solid state targets is investigated theoretically. Our results unexpectedly show that secondary processes coupling nuclei to the atomic shell in the created cold high-density plasma can dominate direct photoexcitation. As an example, we discuss the case of isomer depletion for which nuclear excitation by electron capture as a secondary process is shown to be orders of magnitude more efficient than the direct laser-nucleus interaction. General arguments revisiting the role of the x-ray free-electron laser in nuclear experiments involving solid-state targets are further deduced.
- Received 23 September 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.082501
© 2014 American Physical Society
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Free-Electron Lasers Trigger Nuclear Transitions
Published 24 February 2014
New theoretical calculations show that an x-ray free-electron-laser pulse can generate transitions in excited nuclei via an indirect process involving electron capture.
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