## [#  Ultrafast dynamics in solids 

 ](/research-areas/ultrafast-dynamics-solids)

We use ultrafast optical techniques to study highly non-equilibrium electron and lattice dynamics in semiconductors and metals � materials that are important for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Because of their miniaturization, electronic and optoelectronic devices operate increasingly in a regime of extremely high carrier density. We excite a very high number of electrons in a material by an intense optical pulse with a duration of less than a hundred femtoseconds. This allows us to create exotic states of matter that contain excited electronic populations 3 to 4 orders of magnitude larger compared to weak excitation studies.