Collision quenching in the ultrafast dynamics of plasmonic materials

TL;DR

This paper develops a new theoretical framework to understand ultrafast electron dynamics and collision quenching in plasmonic materials under intense femtosecond laser pulses, revealing nonlinear absorption saturation effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hydrodynamical model based on Fokker-Planck-Landau theory for ultrafast plasmonic electron collisions, extending beyond the classical Drude model.

Findings

Nonlinear collision quenching leads to absorption saturation at high intensities.

The model recovers the Drude response at low intensities.

Provides insights into ultrafast plasma wave manipulation with reduced absorption.

Abstract

We explore the nonlinear response of plasmonic materials driven by ultrashort pulses of electromagnetic radiation with temporal duration of few femtoseconds and high peak intensity. By developing the Fokker-Planck-Landau theory of electron collisions, we solve analytically the collisional integral and derive a novel set of hydrodynamical equations accounting for plasma dynamics at ultrashort time scales. While in the limit of small light intensities we recover the well established Drude model of plasmas, in the high intensity limit we observe nonlinear quenching of collision-induced damping leading to absorption saturation. Our results provide a general background to understand electron dynamics in plasmonic materials with promising photonic applications in the manipulation of plasma waves with reduced absorption at the femtosecond time scale.