title: Lattice response of quantum solids to an impulsive local perturbation.
abstract: The lattice response of solid para-H2 to an impulsive electronic excitation was studied using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. The evolution of an electronic bubble in the crystal, created upon excitation of the A(3ssigma) Rydberg state of an NO impurity, was followed in real time, with a resolution of 100 fs. The experimental results, interpreted in connection with molecular dynamics simulations with quantum corrections, indicate the presence of three stages in the dynamics: a sub-100 fs "adiabatic" phase, a 0.5-1 ps phase, corresponding to the interaction of the first with the next shells driven by the bubble expansion, and a 5 ps phase, corresponding to a slow rearrangement of the environment surrounding the impurity. These findings indicate that the lattice response in solid para-H2 resembles that of a liquid.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Ultrarapide, ISIC, FSB-BSP, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonacina
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larrégaray
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van Mourik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chergui