Vibrational and Spin/Carrier Dynamics Using Intense, Tunable, Ultra-fast Lasers

Norman Tolk

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Ultra-fast, high-power, tunable lasers such as the Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA) and the Free-Electron Laser (FEL), with a combined tunability of 20µm to 200nm, high intensity (15 MW), short pulse structure (<1 ps) and high level of reliability, make these photon sources ideal for studying a wide range of laser-matter interaction topics. Recent advances will be discussed including (a) first measurements of vibrational dynamics of hydrogen in silicon1,2, (b) measurements of carrier injection, transport, trapping, and recombination processes in radiation damaged ultra-thin oxides using Second Harmonic Generation (SHG)3.4, and (c) pump-probe Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) measurements to monitor spin and carrier dynamics in semiconductor heterostructures5. DARPA, ONR, and DoE fund this work.