Generation and Propagation of a Picosecond Acoustic Pulse at a Buried Interface: Time-Resolved X-Ray Diffraction Measurements

Journal Article · Fri Dec 09 00:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.246104· OSTI ID:20699682

Lee, S H; Cavalieri, A L; Fritz, D M; Swan, M C; Reis, D A ^[1]; Hegde, R S; Reason, M; Goldman, R S ^[2]

---

1. FOCUS Center and Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040 (United States)
2. Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136 (United States)

We report on the propagation of coherent acoustic wave packets in (001) surface oriented Al{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}As/GaAs heterostructure, generated through localized femtosecond photoexcitation of the GaAs. Transient structural changes in both the substrate and film are measured with picosecond time-resolved x-ray diffraction. The data indicate an elastic response consisting of unipolar compression pulses of a few hundred picosecond duration traveling along [001] and [001] directions that are produced by predominately impulsive stress. The transmission and reflection of the strain pulses are in agreement with an acoustic mismatch model of the heterostructure and free-space interfaces.

• OSTI ID: 20699682
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, Issue 24; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.246104; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
COMPRESSION
FILMS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INTERFACES
PULSES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOUND WAVES
STRAINS
STRESSES
SUBSTRATES
TIME RESOLUTION
TRANSIENTS
TRANSMISSION
WAVE PROPAGATION
X-RAY DIFFRACTION