Unraveling energy flow mechanisms in semiconductors by ultrafast spectroscopy: Germanium as a case study
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866908760900894720 |
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| author | Raciti, Grazia Abad, Begoña Dettori, Riccardo Sen, Raja Sivan, Aswathi K. Sojo-Gordillo, Jose M. Vast, Nathalie Rurali, Riccardo Melis, Claudio Sjakste, Jelena Zardo, Ilaria |
| author_facet | Raciti, Grazia Abad, Begoña Dettori, Riccardo Sen, Raja Sivan, Aswathi K. Sojo-Gordillo, Jose M. Vast, Nathalie Rurali, Riccardo Melis, Claudio Sjakste, Jelena Zardo, Ilaria |
| contents | Semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, and their functionality is dictated by the interactions between fundamental excitations occurring on (sub-)picosecond timescales. Using time-resolved Raman spectroscopy and transient reflectivity measurements, we shed light on the ultrafast dynamics in germanium. We observe an increase in the optical phonon temperature in the first few picoseconds, driven by the energy transfer from photoexcited holes, and the subsequent decay into acoustic phonons through anharmonic coupling. Moreover, the temperature, Raman frequency, and linewidth of this phonon mode show strikingly different decay dynamics. This difference was ascribed to the local thermal strain generated by the ultrafast excitation. We also observe Brillouin oscillations, given by a strain pulse traveling through germanium, whose damping is correlated to the optical phonon mode. These findings, supported by density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations, provide a better understanding of the energy dissipation mechanisms in semiconductors. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_10544 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Unraveling energy flow mechanisms in semiconductors by ultrafast spectroscopy: Germanium as a case study Raciti, Grazia Abad, Begoña Dettori, Riccardo Sen, Raja Sivan, Aswathi K. Sojo-Gordillo, Jose M. Vast, Nathalie Rurali, Riccardo Melis, Claudio Sjakste, Jelena Zardo, Ilaria Materials Science Other Condensed Matter Semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, and their functionality is dictated by the interactions between fundamental excitations occurring on (sub-)picosecond timescales. Using time-resolved Raman spectroscopy and transient reflectivity measurements, we shed light on the ultrafast dynamics in germanium. We observe an increase in the optical phonon temperature in the first few picoseconds, driven by the energy transfer from photoexcited holes, and the subsequent decay into acoustic phonons through anharmonic coupling. Moreover, the temperature, Raman frequency, and linewidth of this phonon mode show strikingly different decay dynamics. This difference was ascribed to the local thermal strain generated by the ultrafast excitation. We also observe Brillouin oscillations, given by a strain pulse traveling through germanium, whose damping is correlated to the optical phonon mode. These findings, supported by density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations, provide a better understanding of the energy dissipation mechanisms in semiconductors. |
| title | Unraveling energy flow mechanisms in semiconductors by ultrafast spectroscopy: Germanium as a case study |
| topic | Materials Science Other Condensed Matter |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.10544 |