Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses

The behavior of the conduction-band electrons in a metal film subjected to the action of an ultrashort laser pulse at normal incidence is analyzed quantum-mechanically. The pulse duration is assumed to be shorter than the electron mean free time. It is shown for the first time that electrons in the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lugovskoy, Andrey, Bray, Igor
Format: Journal Article
Published: Optical Society of America 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3824
_version_ 1848744337105485824
author Lugovskoy, Andrey
Bray, Igor
author_facet Lugovskoy, Andrey
Bray, Igor
author_sort Lugovskoy, Andrey
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The behavior of the conduction-band electrons in a metal film subjected to the action of an ultrashort laser pulse at normal incidence is analyzed quantum-mechanically. The pulse duration is assumed to be shorter than the electron mean free time. It is shown for the first time that electrons in the film can be excited resonantly to the higher-energy quantum well levels due to the action of the magnetic field of the wave. The numerical analysis is conducted for an electron which is initially in the lowest quantum well and has a quasi-momentum directed along the electric field. It is shown that the excitation probability due to the magnetic-field excitation mechanism can be even larger than the excitation probability due to the inverse bremsstrahlung in electron–phonon collisions.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T05:59:51Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-3824
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T05:59:51Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Optical Society of America
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-38242017-09-13T16:02:17Z Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses Lugovskoy, Andrey Bray, Igor The behavior of the conduction-band electrons in a metal film subjected to the action of an ultrashort laser pulse at normal incidence is analyzed quantum-mechanically. The pulse duration is assumed to be shorter than the electron mean free time. It is shown for the first time that electrons in the film can be excited resonantly to the higher-energy quantum well levels due to the action of the magnetic field of the wave. The numerical analysis is conducted for an electron which is initially in the lowest quantum well and has a quasi-momentum directed along the electric field. It is shown that the excitation probability due to the magnetic-field excitation mechanism can be even larger than the excitation probability due to the inverse bremsstrahlung in electron–phonon collisions. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3824 10.1364/JOSAB.31.002504 Optical Society of America restricted
spellingShingle Lugovskoy, Andrey
Bray, Igor
Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title_full Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title_fullStr Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title_full_unstemmed Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title_short Electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
title_sort electron excitation in thin metal films due to the magnetic field of ultrashort laser pulses
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3824