Christopher J. Kaplan

Direct and simultaneous observation of ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in germanium

Understanding excited carrier dynamics in semiconductors is crucial for the development of photovoltaics and efficient photonic devices. However, overlapping spectral features in optical pump-probe spectroscopy often render assignments of separate electron and hole carrier dynamics ambiguous. Here, ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in germanium nanocrystalline thin films are directly and simultaneously observed by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy in the extreme ultraviolet at the germanium M4,5 edge. We decompose the spectra into contributions of electronic state blocking and photo-induced band shifts at a carrier density of 8 × 1020 cm−3. Separate electron and hole relaxation times are observed as a function of hot carrier energies. A first-order electron and hole decay of ∼1 ps suggests a Shockley–Read–Hall recombination mechanism. The simultaneous observation of electrons and holes with extreme ultraviolet transient absorption spectroscopy paves the way for investigating few- to sub-femtosecond dynamics of both holes and electrons in complex semiconductor materials and across junctions.

Tracking the insulator-to-metal phase transition in VO2 with few-femtosecond extreme UV transient absorption spectroscopy

Significance An insulator-to-metal phase transition is a process that changes a solid material from being electrically nonconductive to being conductive. The phase transition in vanadium dioxide is a well-studied example where the process can occur in less than a picosecond, making it exciting for ultrafast electronic switches. This paper measures a record speed for the phase transition of 26 fs into a long-lived excited state of the metal that persists out to >60 ps. The extreme UV absorption spectrum of the material is also measured and (together with the ultrafast timescale) belies a structural mechanism that has long been deliberated. The measured femtosecond timescale provides fundamental insight into the electronic speed limits of these complex phenomena. Coulomb correlations can manifest in exotic properties in solids, but how these properties can be accessed and ultimately manipulated in real time is not well understood. The insulator-to-metal phase transition in vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a canonical example of such correlations. Here, few-femtosecond extreme UV transient absorption spectroscopy (FXTAS) at the vanadium M2,3 edge is used to track the insulator-to-metal phase transition in VO2. This technique allows observation of the bulk material in real time, follows the photoexcitation process in both the insulating and metallic phases, probes the subsequent relaxation in the metallic phase, and measures the phase-transition dynamics in the insulating phase. An understanding of the VO2 absorption spectrum in the extreme UV is developed using atomic cluster model calculations, revealing V3+/d2 character of the vanadium center. We find that the insulator-to-metal phase transition occurs on a timescale of 26 ± 6 fs and leaves the system in a long-lived excited state of the metallic phase, driven by a change in orbital occupation. Potential interpretations based on electronic screening effects and lattice dynamics are discussed. A Mott–Hubbard-type mechanism is favored, as the observed timescales and d2 nature of the vanadium metal centers are inconsistent with a Peierls driving force. The findings provide a combined experimental and theoretical roadmap for using time-resolved extreme UV spectroscopy to investigate nonequilibrium dynamics in strongly correlated materials.

Ultrafast carrier thermalization and trapping in silicon-germanium alloy probed by extreme ultraviolet transient absorption spectroscopy

Semiconductor alloys containing silicon and germanium are of growing importance for compact and highly efficient photonic devices due to their favorable properties for direct integration into silicon platforms and wide tunability of optical parameters. Here, we report the simultaneous direct and energy-resolved probing of ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in a silicon-germanium alloy with the stoichiometry Si0.25Ge0.75 by extreme ultraviolet transient absorption spectroscopy. Probing the photoinduced dynamics of charge carriers at the germanium M4,5-edge (∼30 eV) allows the germanium atoms to be used as reporter atoms for carrier dynamics in the alloy. The photoexcitation of electrons across the direct and indirect band gap into conduction band (CB) valleys and their subsequent hot carrier relaxation are observed and compared to pure germanium, where the Ge direct (ΔEgap,Ge,direct=0.8 eV) and Si0.25Ge0.75 indirect gaps (ΔEgap,Si0.25Ge0.75,indirect=0.95 eV) are comparable in energy. In the alloy, comparable carrier lifetimes are observed for the X, L, and Γ valleys in the conduction band. A midgap feature associated with electrons accumulating in trap states near the CB edge following intraband thermalization is observed in the Si0.25Ge0.75 alloy. The successful implementation of the reporter atom concept for capturing the dynamics of the electronic bands by site-specific probing in solids opens a route to study carrier dynamics in more complex materials with femtosecond and sub-femtosecond temporal resolution.

Hot phonon and carrier relaxation in Si(100) determined by transient extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy

The thermalization of hot carriers and phonons gives direct insight into the scattering processes that mediate electrical and thermal transport. Obtaining the scattering rates for both hot carriers and phonons currently requires multiple measurements with incommensurate timescales. Here, transient extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy on the silicon 2p core level at 100 eV is used to measure hot carrier and phonon thermalization in Si(100) from tens of femtoseconds to 200 ps, following photoexcitation of the indirect transition to the Δ valley at 800 nm. The ground state XUV spectrum is first theoretically predicted using a combination of a single plasmon pole model and the Bethe-Salpeter equation with density functional theory. The excited state spectrum is predicted by incorporating the electronic effects of photo-induced state-filling, broadening, and band-gap renormalization into the ground state XUV spectrum. A time-dependent lattice deformation and expansion is also required to describe the excited state spectrum. The kinetics of these structural components match the kinetics of phonons excited from the electron-phonon and phonon-phonon scattering processes following photoexcitation. Separating the contributions of electronic and structural effects on the transient XUV spectra allows the carrier population, the population of phonons involved in inter- and intra-valley electron-phonon scattering, and the population of phonons involved in phonon-phonon scattering to be quantified as a function of delay time.

Attosecond transient absorption instrumentation for thin film materials: Phase transitions, heat dissipation, signal stabilization, timing correction, and rapid sample rotation

We present an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) transient absorption apparatus tailored to attosecond and femtosecond measurements on bulk solid-state thin-film samples, specifically when the sample dynamics are sensitive to heating effects. The setup combines methodology for stabilizing sub-femtosecond time-resolution measurements over 48 h and techniques for mitigating heat buildup in temperature-dependent samples. Single-point beam stabilization in pump and probe arms and periodic time-zero reference measurements are described for accurate timing and stabilization. A hollow-shaft motor configuration for rapid sample rotation, raster scanning capability, and additional diagnostics are described for heat mitigation. Heat transfer simulations performed using a finite element analysis allow comparison of sample rotation and traditional raster scanning techniques for 100 Hz pulsed laser measurements on vanadium dioxide, a material that undergoes an insulator-to-metal transition at a modest temperature of 340 K. Experimental results are presented confirming that the vanadium dioxide (VO2) sample cannot cool below its phase transition temperature between laser pulses without rapid rotation, in agreement with the simulations. The findings indicate the stringent conditions required to perform rigorous broadband XUV time-resolved absorption measurements on bulk solid-state samples, particularly those with temperature sensitivity, and elucidate a clear methodology to perform them.

Attosecond kinetics of photoexcited germanium

Attosecond transient reflectivity is developed to observe the photoexcitation dynamics in germanium. Attosecond time-resolved measurements of the dielectric function reveal a few-femtosecond collective electronic response time, which renormalizes the Coulomb interaction between the excited carriers.

Ultrafast dynamics in the insulator-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide measured by attosecond transient absorption spectrosopy

The photoinduced insulator-to-metal phase transition in vanadium dioxide is experimentally investigated by attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Ultrafast changes cover a broad ~20-eV-wide spectral range, emphasizing core spectroscopic access and the importance of electron correlation effects.