Lifetime determination of key astrophysical transitions in highly charged ions at European XFEL

Measuring the lifetime of excited states of highly charged neon ions using X-rays at the SQS (Small Quantum Systems) experiment station of the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg.
Dr. Chintan Shah from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, USA, uses the so-called pump-and-probe method in the soft X-ray regime. The novel two-color mode of the SASE3 undulator at the European XFEL is used both to excite the neon ions and to measure the lifetimes of the excited states.
This experiment, among other things, holds significance in laying groundwork for studying properties of highly excited iron ions, thereby improving our understanding of astrophysical phenomena, atomic theory, and plasma models.