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- Liu, Qingcao, et al.
(author)
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Ionization-Induced Subcycle Metallization of Nanoparticles in Few-Cycle Pulses
- 2020
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In: ACS Photonics. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2330-4022. ; 7:11, s. 3207-3215
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Strong-field laser-matter interactions in nanoscale targets offer unique avenues for the generation and detailed characterization of matter under extreme conditions. Field-driven, subcycle ionization-induced metallization of nanoscale solids in intense laser fields has been predicted (Peltz et al. Time-Resolved X-ray Imaging of Anisotropic Nanoplasma Expansion. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2014, 113, 133401), but its observation was hampered by a lack of a smoking gun. Here, we report the ultrafast metallization of isolated dielectric and semiconducting nanoparticles under intense few-cycle laser pulses. The highest-energy electron emission is found to be a decisive proof that shows a characteristic cutoff modification to a metallic limit for intensities high enough to ignite carrier avalanching in the volume of the particles. Semiclassical Mean-field Mie Monte-Carlo transport simulations reveal the underlying dynamics and explain the observed evolution by near-field driven electron backscattering from the metallizing target.
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