Figure 1.

Dynamics of hexagonal ice investigated with an intense 50 fs long X-ray pulse, with 8 keV photons and intensity of 1 × 10¹⁸ W cm^–2. (a) Snapshots of the structures from the hybrid CR/MD simulation of ice at 3 different time points. (b) Diffraction patterns of ice at corresponding time points, with sample to detector distance of 70 mm. (c) Angular correlation of the intensity in the diffraction patterns as a function of angle and momentum transfer. (d) Side view of the ice structure with schematic of the hexagonal planes and angular pairs of oxygen atoms. It visualizes the planes the 3- and 4-body terms occupy. This affects how long these structures persist (their degree of stability on the fs time-scale) when exposed to the XFEL.