Two-photon absorption using off-resonant excitation with ultrashort X-ray pulses

High energy resolution off-resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy (HEROS) was applied to study one-photon (OPA) and two-photon absorption (TPA) processes in metallic copper generated by ultra-short hard X- ray FEL pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The OPA and TPA signals were measured using a multiple-crystal von Hamos diffraction spectrometer allowing observation of both the intermediate and final states in the TPA process. The universal scaling of TPA/OPA cross sections is discussed.