Reaching Extreme States by Intense X-ray Irradiation at the European XFEL

With short pulse lengths and high sample penetration, intense beams from X-ray Free Electron Lasers have revolutionized the study of high energy states. As yet, however, their capabilities as drivers of high energy density states remain much less explored.

Much of the behavior that they induce is best understood by generating multiple pulses, allowing samples to be both pumped and probed by X-rays. This talk will present results from the first user experiment with the two-color mode now available at the HED endstation of the European XFEL, and compare with previous results from beamtimes at SACLA.