Past Events
David Dye - Shocking Impact: Laser-driven shocks and Aerospace Applications of Shocks
Thursday 15th December 2022 (2 pm GMT)
Here we will explore some recent papers on laser-driven shocks, first examining phase transformations under pressure and how transformation pathways are affected by rate, and then looking at the cavitation and failure step using SAXS to examine void evolution. We will then move on to consider the sorts of shocks, impacts and processes that appear during processing and in service in aerospace applications, and how hard X-ray probes across the range of timescales can be of assistance in understanding these industrial materials problems.
Poster & Social Event
Friday 29th July 2022 (4 pm GMT)
Ultrafast XFEL Colloquium & Update on UK XFEL - Nora Berrah, Rebecca Ingle & Jon Marangos
Wednesday 1st July 2022 (2-4 pm GMT)
It was with great excitement that we held our first in-person network talk post-pandemic! We had two wonderful speakers Prof. Nora Berrah (University of Connecticut) and Dr Rebecca Ingle (UCL). Both talked about their recent work ultrafast work at FELs. Additionally, we are very pleased to announce the news that the UK-XFEL project has received £3.2 million funding from the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. This funding is to support the next phase of the project and to commission the conceptual design study. This conceptual design study will explore different options to provide access to a second generation XFEL capability for UK science and innovation. XFELs are large facilities that produce coherent X-rays and can be used to study matter simultaneously on spatial and temporal scales. Prof Jon Marangos gave an update on the continuation of the UK XFEL project into the second phase. Full abstract and event details.
Hyotcherl Ihee - Visualizing molecular structural dynamics with femtosecond x-ray liquidography
Wednesday 20th April 2022 (10 am GMT)
Prof Ihee from the Center for Advanced Reaction Dynamics, KAIST, Korea presents a novel technique of time-resolved X-ray solution scattering technique named time-resolved X-ray liquidography (TRXL). Analogy to time-resolved X-ray crystallography where the structural information of reaction intermediates is obtained from the crystalline phase. He presents results obtained with femtosecond TRXL at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), including the direct observation of bond formation process, roaming-mediated isomerization, optical Kerr effect, and protein structural dynamics. Full abstract and details here.
Kelly J. Gaffney - Imaging Chemical Transformations with Ultrafast X-ray Lasers
Wednesday 8th December 2021 (4 pm GMT)
Virtual colloquium via Zoom
Prof. Gaffney from the PULSE Institute and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory presents the exciting work they doing probing the dynamics of chemical transformations probed using ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy and scattering. Full abstract and details here
Peter Weber - Ultrafast X-ray Scattering: Excited State Structures, Chemical Dynamics and Molecular Movies
Wednesday 10th November 2021 (2 pm GMT)
Virtual colloquium via Zoom
Peter Weber, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA presents their ongoing XFEL work on ultrafast time resolved x-ray scattering to determine excited state molecular structures and their associated kinetic time evolution. Full abstract and event details here
Xijie Wang - "MeV-UED: a platform for total electron scattering"
Wednesday 6th October 2021 (4 pm BST)
Virtual colloquium via Zoom
Dr. X.J. Wang from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory presents their recent breakthrough in Water Science with the first direct imaging of hydrogen bond dynamics, published in Nature (SLAC news release), reveals the quantum nature of the H-bond. As well as other exciting research going on using the MeV-UED instrument at LCLS. Full abstract and event details here
Erik T. J. Nibbering - "Ultrafast Structural Dynamics of Elementary Water-Mediated Proton Transport Processes"
Wednesday 7th July 2021 (2 pm)
Digital colloquium via Zoom
Dr. Erik T. J. Nibbering, Department head of the "Femtosecond Spectroscopy of Molecular Systems" at the Max Born Institute, Berlin presents his investigations into acid-base reactions probed using ultrafast spectroscopy and soft x-ray techniques to access structural dynamics of proton transfer in these fundamental chemical processes. Full abstract and event details here
Jon Marangos - “Imaging ultrafast hole dynamics with an XFEL”
Thursday 27th May 2021 (2 pm)
Digital colloquium via Zoom
Prof. Jon Marangos, Lockyer Chair in Physics and one of the leads of this network at Imperial College presents a "hot topic" talk on the their exciting exploration of ultrafast hole dynamics measured using LCLS. Full abstract and event details here.
Angel Rubio - "Quantum materials engineering with optical cavities and light"
Wednesday 24 March 2021 (2 pm)
Digital colloquium via Zoom
Prof Angel Rubio, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, presents an overview of how well-established concepts in the fields of quantum chemistry and materials have to be adapted when the quantum nature of light becomes important. Full abstract and event details here.
Marc Vrakking - Attosecond Science and “spooky action at a distance”
Wednesday 10 February 2021 (3 pm)
Digital colloquium via Zoom
Prof Marc Vrakking, Director at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, discusses ion-photoelectron entanglement in attosecond pump-probe experiments and provides an update on the other topics currently under investigation in the attosecond program at the Max‐Born Institute. Full abstract and event details here
Workshop on Frontiers of Physical Sciences with X-ray FELs
Wednesday 13 November 2019
Imperial College Department of Physics 13th November 2019 (start 09:30 finish 18:00), Lecture Theatre 2 in the Blackett Building
As part of the STFC CLF UK XFEL - Scientific Case Project 2019-2020 institutions around the country are hosting a series of Scientific and Technical workshops. These will include talks by leading scientists using XFELs as well as opportunities for short talks from the wider community and discussion. Imperial College will be hosting the third of these workshops.
Ultrafast Lasers for Material Science Applications
Tuesday 18 June 2019
This half-day symposium will bring together researchers from Physics and Chemistry working on ultrafast dynamics of molecular systems.
Frontiers of Ultrafast Measurement Network Kick-off meeting
Thursday 16th May 2019
City & Guilds Bld. CAGB500 (5th Floor)
View the Network Kick-off meeting programme