Nanoscale depth-resolved coherent femtosecond motion in laser-excited bismuth.
We employ grazing-incidence femtosecond x-ray diffraction to characterize the coherent, femtosecond laser-induced lattice motion of a bismuth crystal as a function of depth from the surface with a temporal resolution of 193+/-8 fs. The data show direct consequences on the lattice motion from carrier diffusion and electron-hole interaction, allowing us to estimate an effective diffusion rate of D=2.3+/-0.3 cm(2)/s for the highly excited carriers and an electron-hole interaction time of 260+/-20 fs.
Johnson
S L
SL
Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland. Steve.Johnson@mailaps.org
Beaud
P
P
Milne
C J
CJ
Krasniqi
F S
FS
Zijlstra
E S
ES
Garcia
M E
ME
Kaiser
M
M
Grolimund
D
D
Abela
R
R
Ingold
G
G