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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Unravelling the Intertwined Atomic and Bulk Nature of Localised Excitons by Attosecond Spectroscopy
Giacomo InzaniUmberto De GiovanniniUmberto De GiovanniniBruno MoioMatteo LucchiniFabio FrassettoShunsuke A. SatoShunsuke A. SatoHannes HübenerMauro NisoliRocio Borrego-varillasGiacinto D. LucarelliAngel RubioAngel RubioLuca Polettosubject
optoelectronicsAttosecondphotonicsAttosecond dynamicsGeneral Physics and AstronomyPhysics::Optics02 engineering and technologysemiconductorsTransient reflectivity01 natural sciencesSettore FIS/03 - Fisica Della MateriaUltrafast photonicsPhysicsMultidisciplinaryCondensed matter physicsQCondensed Matter::Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyfemtosecond optical Stark effectdielectricsStark effectFemtosecondsymbols0210 nano-technologyPhysics - OpticsElectronic properties and materialsattosecondexcitonsScienceExcitonFOS: Physical sciencesArticleGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyCondensed Matter::Materials Sciencesymbols.namesakeMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)0103 physical sciencesPhysics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters010306 general physicsSpectroscopyCondensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physicsbusiness.industryGeneral ChemistryCore excitonselectro-optical propertiesSemiconductorPhotonicsbusinessUltrashort pulseelectron-hole quasi-particlesOptics (physics.optics)description
The electro-optical properties of most semiconductors and insulators of technological interest are dominated by the presence of electron-hole quasi-particles, called excitons. The manipulation of excitons in dielectrics has recently received great attention, with possible applications in different fields including optoelectronics and photonics. Here, we apply attosecond transient reflection spectroscopy in a sequential two-foci geometry and observe sub-femtosecond dynamics of a core-level exciton in bulk MgF2 single crystals. Furthermore, we access absolute phase delays, which allow for an unambiguous comparison with theoretical calculations. Our results show that excitons surprisingly exhibit a dual atomic- and solid-like character, which manifests itself on different time scales. While the former is responsible for a femtosecond optical Stark effect, the latter dominates the attosecond excitonic response. Further theoretical investigation reveals a link with the exciton sub-femtosecond nanometric motion and allows us to envision a new route to control exciton dynamics in the close-to-petahertz regime.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-02-15 |