Combined Quantum Kinetic and Rate Equations Modeling of the Non-Equilibrium Carrier Dynamics of Matter Exposed to X-Ray Laser Pulses

Abstract

Nanoplasma generation in neon clusters irradiated by intense X-ray femtosecond laser pulse is described using a generalized Maxwell Boltzmann Bloch quantum-kinetic formalism coupled self-consistently with rate equations which describe the creation of unoccupied atomic core levels. The generation of dense hot plasma environment lasting longer than the driving laser pulse together with the simultaneous creation of unoccupied core levels is studied as an initial step to explore the process of nuclear excitation by electron capture. The results describing the microscopic laser-induced carrier dynamics and the secondary interaction of the emitted soft X-rays with the perturbed clusters might provide essential insights on the triggering conditions of this exotic nuclear excitation mechanism.