Fig. 4.

(A) ΔXA spectra at various delay times reveal a prompt change in the Mn oxidation state (feature at 6,550 eV, left arrow) and evolution in fine structure within 1 ns (feature at 6,570 eV, right arrow). The ground-state ΔXA spectrum, obtained by subtracting the ground spectrum at 175 min from the ground spectrum at 1 min (Fig. 3), is shown for comparison with the transient ΔXA spectra. (B) Kinetic traces of the X-ray absorption intensity at 6,552 eV with (solid line) and without (dashed line) the laser pump confirm a prompt change in Mn valence and no decay within 2 ns.