Imaging the temporal evolution of nuclear resonant x-ray scattering

The time response of resonant nuclei in a rotating sample coherently excite d by synchrotron radiation pulses maps to an angular scale. At sufficiently high rotational speeds, the temporal evolution of the nuclear decay can be recorded with a position sensitive detector. This has been demonstrated by nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation from a Fe-57 metal fo il rotating at 10 kHz. The method has the potential to yield time resolutio ns of a few 10 ps, thus overcoming principal limits of existing techniques. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.