Department of Physics

Daniel Rolles

Daniel RollesAssociate Professor
327 Cardwell Hall
(785) 532-1615
rolles@phys.ksu.edu
Group Webpage

Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) Technische Universität Berlin, 2005
M.Sc. (Diplom) Technische Universität Berlin, 2001

Research Area

Experimental Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics; Ultrafast X-Ray Science

Taking a movie of a chemical reaction with atomic resolution? Watching the making and breaking of chemical bonds in real time? Using experimental techniques such as femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction, time-resolved ion momentum imaging, and electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy, my research focuses on visualizing nuclear and electronic dynamics during photoionization and other photochemical reactions in gas-phase molecules by means of femtosecond pump-probe experiments. Our experiments combine lab-based studies using intense few-cycle optical lasers and their high-order harmonics in the XUV domain with intense and short-pulse VUV and X-ray radiation from Free-Electron Lasers, e.g. the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at Stanford, FLASH in Hamburg, Germany, and SACLA in Japan. This is complemented by electron-ion coincidence experiments and spectroscopy with 3rd generation synchrotron sources such as the Advanced Light Source (ALS) in Berkeley and PETRA III in Hamburg, Germany.

Research Support

  • Department of Energy
  • National Science Foundation

Graduate Advisees

  • Kurtis Borne
  • Zane Phelps
  • Anbu Venkatachalam

Postdoctoral Advisees

  • Abdul Abid
  • Surjendu Bhattacharyya
  • Huynh Lam

Recent Selected Publications

J. W. L. Lee, D. S. Tikhonov, P. Chopra, S. Maclot, A. L. Steber, S. Gruet, F. Allum, R. Boll, X. Cheng, S. Düsterer, B. Erk, D. Garg, L. He, D. Heathcote, M. Johny, M. M. Kazemi, H. Köckert, J. Lahl, A. K. Lemmens, D. Loru, R. Mason, E. Müller, T. Mullins, P. Olshin, C. Passow, J. Peschel, D. Ramm, D. Rompotis, N. Schirmel, S. Trippel, J. Wiese, F. Ziaee, S. Bari, M. Burt, J. Küpper, A. M. Rijs, D. Rolles, S. Techert, P. Eng-Johnsson, M. Brouard, C. Vallance, B. Manschwetus & M. Schnell. Time-resolved relaxation and fragmentation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons investigated in the ultrafast XUV-IR regime. Nat. Commun. 12, 6107 (2021). [link]

X. Li, R. Boll, D. Rolles & A. Rudenko, Simple model for sequential multiphoton ionization by ultraintense x rays. Phys. Rev. A 104, 033115 (2021). [link]

X. Li, L. Inhester, S. J. Robatjazi, B. Erk, R. Boll, K. Hanasaki, K. Toyota, Y. Hao, C. Bomme, B. Rudek, L. Foucar, S.H. Southworth, C.S. Lehmann, B. Kraessig, T. Marchenko, M. Simon, K. Ueda, K.R. Ferguson, M. Bucher, T. Gorkhover, S. Carron, R. Alonso-Mori, J.E. Koglin, J. Correa, G.J. Williams, S. Boutet, L. Young, C. Bostedt, S-K. Son, R. Santra, D. Rolles & A. Rudenko. Pulse Energy and Pulse Duration Effects in the Ionization and Fragmentation of Iodomethane by Ultraintense Hard X Rays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 093202 (2021). [link]

D. Rolles. Gently stirred not shaken, Nature Physics 17, 165–166 (2021). [link]

S. Pathak, R. Obaid, S. Bhattacharyya, J. Bürger, X. Li, J. Tross, T. Severt, B. Davis, R. C. Bilodeau, C. A. Trallero-Herrero, A. Rudenko, N. Berrah & D. Rolles, Differentiating and Quantifying Gas-Phase Conformational Isomers Using Coulomb Explosion Imaging, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 23, 10205–10211 [link]