@article {Saeta:90, title = {Ultrafast Electronic Disordering During Femtosecond Laser Melting of GaAs}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, volume = {67}, year = {1991}, pages = {1023{\textendash}1026}, abstract = {We have observed an ultrarapid electronic phase transformation to a centrosymmetric electronic state during laser excitation of GaAs with intense femtosecond pulses. Reflection second-harmonic intensity from the upper 90 atomic layers vanishes within 100 fs; reflectivity rises within 0.5 ps to a steady value characteristic of a metallic molten phase, long before phonon emission can heat the lattice to the melting temperature.}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.1023}, url = {/files/mazur/files/rep_90.pdf}, author = {P. N. Saeta and J. Kai Wang and Y. Siegal and N. Bloembergen and Mazur, E.} }