Mainz 2026 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 10: Poster – Ultrafast Structural Dynamics

MO 10.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 17:00–19:00, Philo 1. OG

Formation of transient nanotips from plasmonically superheated silver nanocubes — •Nora Sigrist¹, Thomas Reichenbach², Alessandro Colombo¹, Bernd von Issendorf³, and Daniela Rupp¹ for the SilverCubesAtSwissFEL collaboration — ¹ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland — ²IWM Fraunhofer, Freiburg, Germany — ³University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

The ultrafast structural dynamics of silver nanocubes are explored after excitation by an optical laser pulse tuned to their surface plasmon resonance. We used the intense X-ray pulses of SwissFEL to obtain single-shot single-particle coherent diffraction images (CDI) of their evolution. Under certain experimental conditions, we find the formation of complex transient geometries, six-legged nanostructures of about twice the size of the original nanocube. Matching this phenomenon with large-scale molecular dynamics simulations enables us to extract physical quantities of warm dense matter on the nanoscale, such as the viscosity of liquid silver at extreme temperatures and pressures, typically hardly accessible in a laboratory environment.

Keywords: X-Ray Imaging; Out-of-equilibrium; Free electron laser; Nanostructures