Femtosecond-scale response of semiconductors to laser pulses Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • We report simulations of the response of InSb, GaAs, and Si to 70-femtosecond laser pulses of various intensities. In agreement with the experiments of Mazur and coworkers, and other groups, there is a nonthermal phase transition for each of these semiconductors above a threshold intensity. Our simulations employ tight-binding electron-ion dynamics (TED), a technique which is briefly described in the text. In the experimental pump-probe observations, the dielectric function () and the second-order susceptibility (2) can be measured. These same quantities can be calculated during a TED simulation, and there is good agreement in the behavior with respect to both time and frequency. The simulations provide much additional microscopic information which is experimentally inaccessible: for example, the time-dependence of the atomic pair-correlation function, electronic energy bands, occupancies of excited states, kinetic energy of the atoms, and excursions of atoms from their initial positions.

name of conference

  • Ultrafast Phenomena in Semiconductors V

published proceedings

  • ULTRAFAST PHENOMENA IN SEMICONDUCTORS V

author list (cited authors)

  • Allen, R. E., Burzo, A., & Dumitrica, T.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Allen, RE||Burzo, A||Dumitrica, T

editor list (cited editors)

  • Jiang, H., Tsen, K., & Song, J.

publication date

  • April 2001