Time-Resolved Pump-Probe Diffraction Experiment at SOLEIL Synchrotron: Photoinduced Spin Transition in the Molecular Crystal [TPA Fe(III) TCC] PF6

• Published in: Acta physica Polonica, A Vol. 121; no. 2; pp. 332 - 335
• Main Authors: Laulhé, Claire, Ravy, Sylvain, Fertey, Pierre, Elkaim, Erik, Legrand, Fabien, Féret, Pierre, Hollander, Philippe, Hustache, Stéphanie, Bordessoule, Michel, Ricaud, Jean-Paul, Collet, Eric, Lorenc, Maciej, Buron-Le Cointe, Marylise, Cailleau, Hervé, Tissot, Antoine, Boillot, Marie-Laure
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Academy of Sciences. Institute of Physics 01-02-2012
• Subjects: Condensed Matter; Materials Science; Physics
• ISSN: 0587-4246; 1898-794X
• DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.121.332

We present the first time-resolved pump-probe experiment performed at synchrotron SOLEIL at the CRISTAL diffraction beamline. The time-resolved setup will be used in the near future for sub-ns time resolution experiments. We studied spin state switching in a [TPA Fe(III) TCC] PF6 single crystal as induced by a ¼ 6 ns laser pulse (1064 nm), by measuring the 3D diffraction volume of the 002 Bragg reflection as a function of time after excitation. The intensity profiles (rocking curves) are found to evolve at two characteristic timescales, namely hundreds of ns and few ¹s, exhibiting subtle profile changes and peak broadenings. Consistently with previous studies, we interpret these features as due to structural inhomogeneities related to laser-induced deformation wave propagation and heat diffusion, which both start from the absorbing sites.