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Title: Silicon as a virtual plasmonic material: Acquisition of its transient optical constants and the ultrafast surface plasmon-polariton excitation

Journal Article · · Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics
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  1. Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation)
  2. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) (Russian Federation)
  3. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energetics (Bulgaria)

Ultrafast intense photoexcitation of a silicon surface is complementarily studied experimentally and theoretically, with its prompt optical dielectric function obtained by means of time-resolved optical reflection microscopy and the underlying electron-hole plasma dynamics modeled numerically, using a quantum kinetic approach. The corresponding transient surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) dispersion curves of the photo-excited material were simulated as a function of the electron-hole plasma density, using the derived optical dielectric function model, and directly mapped at several laser photon energies, measuring spatial periods of the corresponding SPP-mediated surface relief nanogratings. The unusual spectral dynamics of the surface plasmon resonance, initially increasing with the increase in the electron-hole plasma density but damped at high interband absorption losses induced by the high-density electron-hole plasma through instantaneous bandgap renormalization, was envisioned through the multi-color mapping.

OSTI ID:
22472230
Journal Information:
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 6; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2015 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7761
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English