Ultrafast electron dynamics in metals

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical advances in understanding ultrafast hot electron dynamics in metals, focusing on inelastic lifetimes and first-principles calculations of quasiparticle scattering.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical models and first-principles methods used to describe hot-electron inelastic lifetimes in metals, highlighting recent progress and future directions.

Findings

Review of first-principles many-body calculations

Summary of theoretical formulations of hot-electron lifetime

Discussion of future research directions

Abstract

During the last decade, significant progress has been achieved in the rapidly growing field of the dynamics of {\it hot} carriers in metals. Here we present an overview of the recent achievements in the theoretical understanding of electron dynamics in metals, and focus on the theoretical description of the inelastic lifetime of excited hot electrons. We outline theoretical formulations of the hot-electron lifetime that is originated in the inelastic scattering of the excited {\it quasiparticle} with occupied states below the Fermi level of the solid. {\it First-principles} many-body calculations are reviewed. Related work and future directions are also addressed.