Thickness-dependent electron–lattice equilibration in laser-excited thin bismuth films
Abstract
Electron–phonon coupling processes determine electronic transport properties of materials and are responsible for the transfer of electronic excess energy to the lattice. With decreasing device dimensions an understanding of these processes in nanoscale materials is becoming increasingly important. We use time-resolved electron diffraction to directly study energy relaxation in thin bismuth films after optical excitation. Precise measurements of the transient Debye–Waller-effect for various film thicknesses and over an extended range of excitation fluences allow to separate different contributions to the incoherent lattice response. While phonon softening in the electronically excited state is responsible for an immediate increase of the r.m.s. atomic displacement within a few hundred fs, 'ordinary' electron–phonon coupling leads to subsequent heating of the material on a few ps time-scale. Moreover, the data reveal distinct changes in the energy transfer dynamics which becomes faster for stronger excitation and smaller film thickness, respectively. The latter effect is attributed to a cross-interfacial coupling of excited electrons to phonons in the substrate.
- Authors:
- more »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1238985
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1237587; OSTI ID: 1238989
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- New Journal of Physics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: New Journal of Physics Journal Volume: 17 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 1367-2630
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; electron-phonon coupling; bismuth; thin films; time-resolved electron diffraction
Citation Formats
Sokolowski-Tinten, K., Li, R. K., Reid, A. H., Weathersby, S. P., Quirin, F., Chase, T., Coffee, R., Corbett, J., Fry, A., Hartmann, N., Hast, C., Hettel, R., Hoegen, M. Horn von, Janoschka, D., Lewandowski, J. R., Ligges, M., Heringdorf, F. Meyer zu, Shen, X., Vecchione, T., Witt, C., Wu, J., Dürr, H. A., and Wang, X. J. Thickness-dependent electron–lattice equilibration in laser-excited thin bismuth films. United Kingdom: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113047.
Sokolowski-Tinten, K., Li, R. K., Reid, A. H., Weathersby, S. P., Quirin, F., Chase, T., Coffee, R., Corbett, J., Fry, A., Hartmann, N., Hast, C., Hettel, R., Hoegen, M. Horn von, Janoschka, D., Lewandowski, J. R., Ligges, M., Heringdorf, F. Meyer zu, Shen, X., Vecchione, T., Witt, C., Wu, J., Dürr, H. A., & Wang, X. J. Thickness-dependent electron–lattice equilibration in laser-excited thin bismuth films. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113047
Sokolowski-Tinten, K., Li, R. K., Reid, A. H., Weathersby, S. P., Quirin, F., Chase, T., Coffee, R., Corbett, J., Fry, A., Hartmann, N., Hast, C., Hettel, R., Hoegen, M. Horn von, Janoschka, D., Lewandowski, J. R., Ligges, M., Heringdorf, F. Meyer zu, Shen, X., Vecchione, T., Witt, C., Wu, J., Dürr, H. A., and Wang, X. J. Sun .
"Thickness-dependent electron–lattice equilibration in laser-excited thin bismuth films". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113047.
@article{osti_1238985,
title = {Thickness-dependent electron–lattice equilibration in laser-excited thin bismuth films},
author = {Sokolowski-Tinten, K. and Li, R. K. and Reid, A. H. and Weathersby, S. P. and Quirin, F. and Chase, T. and Coffee, R. and Corbett, J. and Fry, A. and Hartmann, N. and Hast, C. and Hettel, R. and Hoegen, M. Horn von and Janoschka, D. and Lewandowski, J. R. and Ligges, M. and Heringdorf, F. Meyer zu and Shen, X. and Vecchione, T. and Witt, C. and Wu, J. and Dürr, H. A. and Wang, X. J.},
abstractNote = {Electron–phonon coupling processes determine electronic transport properties of materials and are responsible for the transfer of electronic excess energy to the lattice. With decreasing device dimensions an understanding of these processes in nanoscale materials is becoming increasingly important. We use time-resolved electron diffraction to directly study energy relaxation in thin bismuth films after optical excitation. Precise measurements of the transient Debye–Waller-effect for various film thicknesses and over an extended range of excitation fluences allow to separate different contributions to the incoherent lattice response. While phonon softening in the electronically excited state is responsible for an immediate increase of the r.m.s. atomic displacement within a few hundred fs, 'ordinary' electron–phonon coupling leads to subsequent heating of the material on a few ps time-scale. Moreover, the data reveal distinct changes in the energy transfer dynamics which becomes faster for stronger excitation and smaller film thickness, respectively. The latter effect is attributed to a cross-interfacial coupling of excited electrons to phonons in the substrate.},
doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113047},
journal = {New Journal of Physics},
number = 11,
volume = 17,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/11/113047
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