Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

An Experimental Protocol for Femtosecond NIR/UV - XUV Pump-Probe Experiments with Free-Electron Lasers
Published on: October 23, 2018
Ultrafast energy transfer to liquid water by sub-picosecond high-intensity terahertz pulses: an ab initio molecular
Pankaj Kr Mishra1, Oriol Vendrell, Robin Santra
1Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY, Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg (Germany); Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstraße 9, 20355 Hamburg (Germany); Center for Ultrafast Imaging, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg (Germany) http://desy.cfel.de/cfel_theory_division/
Abstract:
Sub-picosecond heating of bulk water is accomplished by ultrashort and intense THz pulses which are able to transfer a large amount of energy to the liquid. The energy transferred corresponds to a temperature jump of about 600 K. Liquid water becomes a structureless and hot gas-like system still at the density of the liquid, in which the hydrogen-bonding structure has been washed out.

