Transient optical response of ultrafast nonequilibrium excited metals: Effects of electron-electron contribution to collisional absorption

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron-electron collisions influence ultrafast optical absorption in laser-irradiated metals, using hydrodynamic simulations to connect transient optical and thermodynamic properties during nonequilibrium states.

Contribution

It introduces a model incorporating umklapp electron-electron collisions to accurately simulate energy deposition and optical response in ultrafast laser-metal interactions.

Findings

Strong correlation between optical and thermodynamic properties.

Effective description of solid to plasma transition regimes.

Simulation results align well with experimental data.

Abstract

Approaching energy coupling in laser-irradiated metals, we point out the role of electron-electron collision as an efficient control factor for ultrafast optical absorption. The high degree of laser-induced electron-ion nonequilibrium drives a complex absorption pattern with consequences on the transient optical properties. Consequently, high electronic temperatures determine largely the collision frequency and establish a transition between absorptive regimes in solid and plasma phases. In particular, taking into account umklapp electron-electron collisions, we performed hydrodynamic simulations of the laser-matter interaction to calculate laser energy deposition during the electron-ion nonequilibrium stage and subsequent matter transformation phases. We observe strong correlations between optical and thermodynamic properties according to the experimental situations. A suitable connection between solid and plasma regimes is chosen in accordance with models that describe the behavior in extreme, asymptotic regimes. The proposed approach describes as well situations encountered in pump-probe types of experiments, where the state of matter is probed after initial excitation. Comparison with experimental measurements shows simulation results which are sufficiently accurate to interpret the observed material behavior. A numerical probe is proposed to analyze the transient optical properties of matter exposed to ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation at moderate and high intensities. Various thermodynamic states are assigned to the observed optical variation. Qualitative indications of the amount of energy coupled in the irradiated targets are obtained. Keywords: ultrafast absorption ; umklapp electron-electron collision ; collisional absorption ; laser-matter interaction