Irreversible Material Dynamics Studied with Time-Resolved X-Ray Scattering

Excitation of solid materials with ultrashort pulses represents an efficient way to generate states of high energy density, which are characterized by an initially extreme electronic excitation. The subsequent relaxation can lead to phase transitions on very short time scales under conditions far away from thermal equilibrium. In this contribution I will present a few examples from our recent work on the non-equilibrium structural response of laser-excited materials, which we study by ultrafast X-ray scattering.