Time-resolved x-ray photoabsorption and diffraction on timescales from ns to fs

Time-resolved x-ray diffraction with picosecond time resolution is used to observe scattering from coherent acoustic phonons in laser-excited InSb crystals. The observed oscillations in the crystal reflectivity are in agreement with a model based on dynamical diffraction theory. Synchrotron radiation pulses of ∼300 fs in duration have been generated by femtosecond laser pulses modulating the electron beam in the Advanced Light Source. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87631/2/664_1.pd

Probing impulsive strain propagation with x-ray pulses

Pump-probe time-resolved x-ray diffraction of allowed and nearly forbidden reflections in InSb is used to follow the propagation of a coherent acoustic pulse generated by ultrafast laser-excitation. The surface and bulk components of the strain could be simultaneously measured due to the large x-ray penetration depth. Comparison of the experimental data with dynamical diffraction simulations suggests that the conventional model for impulsively generated strain underestimates the partitioning of energy into coherent modes.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, eps. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. http://prl.aps.or

Occupational risk factors for symptomatic lumbar disc herniation; a case-control study

Background: Previous studies mostly did not separate between symptomatic disc herniation combined with osteochondrosis/spondylosis of the lumbar spine and symptomatic disc herniation in radiographically normal intervertebral spaces. This may at least in part explain the differences in the observed risk patterns. Aims: To investigate the possible aetiological relevance of physical and psychosocial workload to lumbar disc herniation with and without concomitant osteochondrosis/spondylosis. Methods: A total of 267 cases with acute lumbar disc herniation (in two practices and four clinics) and 197 control subjects were studied. Data were gathered in a structured personal interview and analysed using logistic regression to control for age, region, nationality, and diseases affecting the lumbar spine. Cases without knowledge about osteochondrosis/spondylosis (n=42) were excluded from analysis. Risk factors were examined separately for those cases with (n=131) and without (n=94) radiographically diagnosed concomitant osteochondrosis or spondylosis. Results: There was a statistically significant positive association between extreme forward bending and lumbar disc herniation with, as well as without concomitant osteochondrosis/spondylosis. There was a statistically significant relation between cumulative exposure to weight lifting or carrying and lumbar disc herniation with, but not without, concomitant osteochondrosis/spondylosis. Cases with disc herniation reported time pressure at work as well as psychic strain through contact with clients more frequently than control subjects. Conclusions: Further larger studies are needed to verify the concept of distinct aetiologies of lumbar disc herniation in relatively younger persons with otherwise normal discs and of disc herniation in relatively older persons with structurally damaged discs

Picosecond X-ray diffraction studies of laser-excited acoustic phonons in InSb

We have employed time-resolved X-ray diffraction with picosecond temporal resolution to measure the time-dependent rocking curves of laser-irradiated asymmetrically cut single InSb crystals. Coherent acoustic phonons were excited in the crystals by irradiation with 800-nm, 100-fs laser pulses at irradiances between 0.25 and 12 mJ/cm 2 . The induced time-dependent strain profiles (corresponding to the coherent phonons) were monitored by diffracting collimated, monochromatic pulses of X-rays from the irradiated crystals. Recording of the diffracted radiation with a fast low-jitter X-ray streak camera resulted in an overall temporal resolution of better than 2 ps. The strain associated with the coherent phonons modifies the rocking curve of the crystal in a time-dependent manner, and the rocking curve is recorded by keeping the angle of incidence of the X-rays upon the crystal fixed, but varying the energy of the incident X-rays around a central energy of 8.453 keV (corresponding to the peak of the rocking curve of the unperturbed crystal). The observed time-dependent diffraction from the irradiated crystals is in reasonable agreement with simulations over a wide range of energies from the unperturbed rocking-curve peak.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42150/1/339-75-4-467_20750467.pd

Femtosecond X-ray diffraction: Experiments and limits

Although the realisation of femtosecond X-ray free electron laser (FEL) X-ray pulses is still some time away, X-ray diffraction experiments within the sub-picosecond domain are already being performed using both synchrotron and laser-plasma based X-ray sources. Within this paper we summarise the current status of some of these experiments which, to date, have mainly concentrated on observing non-thermal melt and coherent phonons in laser-irradiated semiconductors. Furthermore, with the advent of FEL sources, X-ray pulse lengths may soon be sufficiently short that the finite response time of monochromators may themselves place fundamental limits on achievable temporal resolution. A brief review of time-dependent X-ray diffraction relevant to such effects is presented