Atomic-Scale Visualization of Ultrafast Bond Breaking in X-Ray-Excited Diamond

Ultrafast changes of charge density distribution in diamond after irradiation with an intense x-ray pulse (photon energy, 7.8 keV; pulse duration, 6 fs; intensity, 3×10$^{19}$ W/cm$^2$) have been visualized with the x-ray pump–x-ray probe technique. The measurement reveals that covalent bonds in diamond are broken and the electron distribution around each atom becomes almost isotropic within ∼5 fs after the intensity maximum of the x-ray pump pulse. The 15 fs time delay observed between the bond breaking and atomic disordering indicates nonisothermality of electron and lattice subsystems on this timescale. From these observations and simulation results, we interpret that the x-ray-induced change of the interatomic potential drives the ultrafast atomic disordering underway to the following nonthermal melting