Structural dynamics in laser-excited solids investigated with femtosecond x-ray diffraction

Summary form only given. Ultrashort x-ray pulses offer a unique combination of atomic-scale spatial and temporal resolution, which permits direct measurements of structural transients on an ultrafast time scale. Using time-resolved X-ray diffraction with femtosecond, multi-keV X-ray pulses we have studied transient lattice dynamics in optically excited semiconductors and metals. In an optical pump/X-ray probe configuration transient changes in X-ray diffraction from [111]-oriented, single-crystalline thin films of Ge and Bi have been measured.