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.
Ultrafast laser-induced structural changes in semiconductors,
at
Journées Maxwell '97 (Bordeaux, France),
Tuesday, May 20, 1997: