Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy
Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy

MBI Staff Member – Personal info

Dr. Kasra Amini

kasra.amini(at)mbi-berlin.de
+49 30 6392 1245

A1: Strong Field Processes at Extreme Wavelengths
Building A, 3.03

Position

Junior Research Group Leader

Research

My group’s primary research interest is time-resolving ultrafast chemical dynamics in gas-phase molecules and condensed matter physics using ultrafast electron diffraction (UED). Our recently-built, novel 30-kHz, 95 keV UED set-up provides unprecedented electron pulse parameters (<8-pm real-space and <0.04 Å-1 reciprocal-space resolutions, >9-nm transverse coherence length, 100-μm FWHM diameter at sample) containing 1 - 106 electrons/pulse. Our instrument is capable of operating in high temporal (currently 300-fs uncompressed, but 50-fs predicted for compressed electrons) and high electron beam brightness (>1010 electons/s flux) modes, paving the way towards easily-accessible, laboratory-based UED studies of light-matter interactions. With our set-up, it will be possible, for the first time, to study the ultrafast (<500-fs total timescale) nuclear dynamics in large, complex (>20 atom) molecules where a combination of real-space resolution, temporal resolution, momentum transfer range and high electron detection capabilities will be critical. Strong collaborations have been established with top experts in the fields of ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy, ab initio theoretical calculations of ultrafast coupled electronic-nuclear dynamics, electron beam physics, non-linear and ultrafast optics.

My group's secondary research focus is the Coulomb explosion imaging (CEI) of large, complex molecular structures undergoing photochemical reactions on the few tens-to-hundreds of femtosecond timescales, particularly using X-ray free-electron lasers for X-ray-based CEI.

Curriculum vitae

2021 - Present: Junior Research Group Leader, High Repetition Rate Ultrafast Electron Diffraction, Max-Born-Institut, Berlin.

2022 - Present: Habilitation, Freie Universitat Berlin.

2017 - 2021: Research Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher, ICFO, Barcelona. Topic: Laser-Induced Electron Diffraction.

2013 - 2017: PhD in Theoretical and Physical Chemistry, University of Oxford, U.K. Topic: Ultrafast Laser-Induced Coulomb Explosion Imaging Using Tabletop and Free-Electron Lasers.

2008 - 2012: MSci (First Class Honours) in Chemistry with Mathematics, University College London, U.K. Topic: Electron Impact Ionization and Fragmentation of Gas-Phase Molecules.

2010 - 2010: Researcher, House of Commons: Science and Environment Section, U.K.

2008 - Present: Private Lecturer, Freelance.

MBI Publications

  1. Structural dynamics with X-ray and electron scattering 25 Royal Society of Real Chemistry, T.H.E. (2023) 638
  2. UV-induced dissociation of CH2BrI probed by intense femtosecond XUV pulses

    H. Köckert, J. W. L. Lee, F. Allum, K. Amini, S. Bari, C. Bomme, F. Brauße, M. Brouard, M. Burt, B. Cunha de Miranda, S. Düsterer, P. Eng-Johnsson, B. Erk, M. Géléoc, R. Geneaux, A. S. Gentleman, R. Guillemin, G. Goldsztejn, D. M. P. Holland, I. Ismail, L. Journel, T. Kierspel, J. Küpper, J. Lahl, S. R. Mackenzie, S. Maclot, B. Manschwetus, A. S. Mereshchenk, T. Mullins, P. K. Olshin, J. Palaudoux, F. Penent, M. N. Piancastelli, D. Rompotis, A. Rouzée, T. Ruchon, A. Rudenko, N. Schirmel, M. Simon, S. Techert, O. Travnikova, S. Trippel, C. Vallance, E. Wang, J. Wiese, F. Ziaee, T. Marchenko, D. Rolles, R. Boll

     Journal of Physics B 55 (2022) 014001/1-13
  3. Quantum interference and imaging using intense laser fields

    K. Amini, A. Chacón, S. Eckart, B. Fetić, M. Kübel

     European Physical Journal D 75 (2021) 275/1-22
  4. Time-resolved diffraction: general discussion

    F. Allum, K. Amini, M. Ashfold, D. Bansal, R. J. F. Berger, M. Centurion, G. Dixit, D. Durham, E. Fasshauer, J. P. Figueira Nunes, I. Fischer, G. Grell, M. Y. Ivanov, A. Kirrander, O. Kornilov, C. Kuttner, K. Lopata, L. Ma, V. Makhija, A. Maxwell, A. Moreno Carrascosa, A. Natan, D. Neumark, S. Pratt, A. Röder, D. Rolles, J. M. Rost, T. Sekikawa, M. Simmermacher, A. Stolow, E. Titov, J. C. Tremblay, P. M. Weber, H. Yong, L. Young

     Faraday Discussions 228 (2021) 161-190