EXcitation PROcesses and RELaxation in condensed matter and nanostructures: methodological, instrumental, and scientific challenges

The emission of very brilliant radiation pulses of duration between 1 and 100 fs is one of the most interesting features of FELs. This project aims to develop specific instrumentation along with methods and protocols to perform pump and probe spectroscopy measurements of excitation and relaxation processes in condensed matter and nanostructures. In fact, the pulse duration is ideally suited to probe relaxation processes due to electron - electron and electron - phonon scattering. The challenge is to extend to the VUV - x-ray region techniques currently used in the UV, visible and IR ranges. The implementation of the project consists in three main tasks: development of instrumentation, execution of selected pilot / exploratory measurements and progress in computational spectroscopy. The instrumental development includes the pre - design of a UHV chamber appropriate for measurements at European-XFEL. We plan to use existing storage ring and lower energy FEL sources to develop novel instrumentation and the necessary expertise. The proposal brings together scientists with a background in synchrotron radiation techniques, experts in sample growth and surface science and a theory component. We expect to help in the formation of a group of early users of FELs with expertise in the specific instrumental and scientific challenges.