0000000001078145
AUTHOR
Paul Beaud
Structural and Magnetic Dynamics in the Magnetic Shape Memory Alloy Ni$_2$MnGa
Magnetic shape memory Heusler alloys are multiferroics stabilized by the correlations between electronic, magnetic and structural order. To study these correlations we use time resolved x-ray diffraction and magneto-optical Kerr effect experiments to measure the laser induced dynamics in a Heusler alloy Ni$_2$MnGa film and reveal a set of timescales intrinsic to the system. We observe a coherent phonon which we identify as the amplitudon of the modulated structure and an ultrafast phase transition leading to a quenching of the incommensurate modulation within 300~fs with a recovery time of a few ps. The thermally driven martensitic transition to the high temperature cubic phase proceeds via…
Optical control of vibrational coherence triggered by an ultrafast phase transition
Femtosecond time-resolved x-ray diffraction is employed to study the dynamics of the periodic lattice distortion (PLD) associated with the charge-density-wave (CDW) in K0.3MoO3. Using a multi-pulse scheme we show the ability to extend the lifetime of coherent oscillations of the PLD about the undistorted structure through re-excitation of the electronic states. This suggests that it is possible to enter a regime where the symmetry of the potential energy landscape corresponds to the high symmetry phase but the scattering pathways that lead to the damping of coherent dynamics are still controllable by altering the electronic state population. The demonstrated control over the coherence time …
Femtosecond Raman time-resolved molecular spectroscopy
International audience; The applicability of several femtosecond time resolved non-linear coherent techniques such as Raman induced polarization spectroscopy (RIPS), degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) for molecular spectroscopy is presented. All methods rely on the initial coherent excitation of molecular states producing wavepackets, whose time evolution is then measured. In the case of RIPS and DFWM only pure rotational transitions are involved, whereas in CARS vibrational states can be excited. First the methodology of concentration and temperature measurements using RIPS in gas mixtures involving N2, CO2, O2, and N2O is shown. In additi…
Femtosecond Raman time-resolved molecular spectroscopy
Abstract The applicability of several femtosecond time resolved non-linear coherent techniques such as Raman induced polarization spectroscopy (RIPS), degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) for molecular spectroscopy is presented. All methods rely on the initial coherent excitation of molecular states producing wavepackets, whose time evolution is then measured. In the case of RIPS and DFWM only pure rotational transitions are involved, whereas in CARS vibrational states can be excited. First the methodology of concentration and temperature measurements using RIPS in gas mixtures involving N2, CO2, O2, and N2O is shown. In addition some applica…