Picturing molecular femtosecond processes through an ultra-fast controllable X-ray shutter

We show that frequency detuning in a resonant X-ray scattering experiment acts as an X-ray camera shutter by regulating the duration time of the scattering process. The camera shutter can be used to select processes at different time scales for observation. This is illustrated by a resonant Auger study of the ultra-fast dissociation of the core-excited HF molecule. We present experimental results and first principle simulations of the molecular fraction in the resonant Auger spectra of HF which is a dynamical parameter that well illustrates X-ray shutter controlled dissociation.