Nonadiabatic generation of coherent phonons

Multiscale simulation of terahertz radiation process in benzimidazole crystal by impulsive stimulated Raman scattering

Comprehensive dynamics of coupled light wave and molecules in the terahertz wave generation process in an organic molecular crystal solid, 5,6-dichloro-2-methylbenzimidazole (DCMBI), induced by impulsive stimulated Raman scattering has been described by our previously developed multi-scale simulation, Maxwell + polarizable molecular dynamics method, where the propagation of macroscopic electromagnetic fields and microscopic molecular dynamics based on the force field model are numerically solved in the time domain. It has shown the behaviors of the excitation of Raman-active phonon modes by the irradiated pulse and terahertz radiation by molecular motions of infrared-active modes. Simulations of terahertz absorption and Raman spectroscopies of the DCMBI solid have also been performed to verify the applicability of the method to the terahertz optics. The calculated spectra are compared with the experimental measurements, showing good agreement. The detailed motions of the interacting electromagnetic fields and molecules occurred in the terahertz spectroscopies have also been provided, and the analyses have shown that rotational motions of the DCMBI molecules play key roles in the terahertz wave generation.

Ultrafast charge ordering by self-amplified exciton-phonon dynamics in TiSe2

The origin of charge density waves (CDWs) in TiSe\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${}_{2}$$\end{document}2 has long been debated, mainly due to the difficulties in identifying the timescales of the excitonic pairing and electron–phonon coupling (EPC). Without a time-resolved and microscopic mechanism, one has to assume simultaneous appearance of CDW and periodic lattice distortions (PLD). Here, we accomplish a complete separation of ultrafast exciton and PLD dynamics and unravel their interplay in our real-time time-dependent density functional theory simulations. We find that laser pulses knock off the exciton order and induce a homogeneous bonding–antibonding transition in the initial 20 fs, then the weakened electronic order triggers ionic movements antiparallel to the original PLD. The EPC comes into play after the initial 20 fs, and the two processes mutually amplify each other leading to a complete inversion of CDW ordering. The self-amplified dynamics reproduces the evolution of band structures in agreement with photoemission experiments. Hence we resolve the key processes in the initial dynamics of CDWs that help elucidate the underlying mechanism.

The physical origins of charge density waves in 1T-TiSe2 and their response to ultrafast excitation have long been a topic of theoretical and experimental debate. Here the authors present an ab initio theory that successfully captures the observed dynamics of charge density wave formation.

Hot electron relaxation dynamics in semiconductors: assessing the strength of the electron-phonon coupling from the theoretical and experimental viewpoints

The rapid development of the computational methods based on density functional theory, on the one hand, and of time-, energy-, and momentum-resolved spectroscopy, on the other hand, allows today an unprecedently detailed insight into the processes governing hot-electron relaxation dynamics, and, in particular, into the role of the electron-phonon coupling. Instead of focusing on the development of a particular method, theoretical or experimental, this review aims to treat the progress in the understanding of the electron-phonon coupling which can be gained from both, on the basis of recently obtained results. We start by defining several regimes of hot electron relaxation via electron-phonon coupling, with respect to the electron excitation energy. We distinguish between energy and momentum relaxation of hot electrons, and summarize, for several semiconductors of the IV and III-V groups, the orders of magnitude of different relaxation times in different regimes, on the basis of known experimental and numerical data. Momentum relaxation times of hot electrons become very short around 1 eV above the bottom of the conduction band, and such ultrafast relaxation mechanisms are measurable only in the most recent pump-probe experiments. Then, we give an overview of the recent progress in the experimental techniques allowing to obtain detailed information on the hot-electron relaxation dynamics, with the main focus on time-, energy-, and momentum-resolved photoemission experiments. The particularities of the experimental approach developed by one of us, which allows to capture time-, energy-, and momentum-resolved hot-electron distributions, as well as to measure momentum relaxation times of the order of 10 fs, are discussed. We further discuss the main advances in the calculation of the electron-phonon scattering times from first principles over the past ten years, in semiconducting materials. Ab initio techniques and efficient interpolation methods provide the possibility to calculate electron-phonon scattering times with high precision at reasonable numerical cost. We highlight the methods of analysis of the obtained numerical results, which allow to give insight into the details of the electron-phonon scattering mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the concept of hot electron ensemble which has been proposed recently to describe the hot-electron relaxation dynamics in GaAs, the applicability of this concept to other materials, and its limitations. We also mention some open problems.

Time-dependent density functional theory beyond Kohn–Sham Slater determinants

Different choices of initial Kohn Sham wavefunction shape the time-dependent exchange–correlation potential.

Time-resolved spectroscopy in time-dependent density functional theory: an exact condition

A fundamental property of a quantum system driven by an external field is that when the field is turned off the positions of its response frequencies are independent of the time at which the field is turned off. We show that this leads to an exact condition for the exchange-correlation potential of time-dependent density functional theory. The Kohn-Sham potential typically continues to evolve after the field is turned off, which leads to time dependence in the response frequencies of the Kohn-Sham response function. The exchange-correlation kernel must cancel out this time dependence. The condition is typically violated by approximations currently in use, as we demonstrate by several examples, which has severe consequences for their predictions of time-resolved spectroscopy.

Kinetic and interaction components of the exact time-dependent correlation potential

The exact exchange-correlation (xc) potential of time-dependent density functional theory has been shown to have striking features. For example, step and peak features are generically found when the system is far from its ground-state, and these depend nonlocally on the density in space and time. We analyze the xc potential by decomposing it into kinetic and interaction components and comparing each with their exact-adiabatic counterparts, for a range of dynamical situations in model one-dimensional two-electron systems. We find that often, but not always, the kinetic contribution is largely responsible for these features that are missed by the adiabatic approximation. The adiabatic approximation often makes a smaller error for the interaction component, which we write in two parts, one being the Coulomb potential due to the time-dependent xc hole. Non-adiabatic features of the kinetic component were also larger than those of the interaction component in cases that we studied when there is negligible step structure. In ground-state situations, step and peak structures arise in cases of static correlation, when more than one determinant is essential to describe the interacting state. We investigate the time-dependent natural orbital occupation numbers and find the corresponding relation between these and the dynamical step is more complex than for the ground-state case.

First-principles calculation of femtosecond symmetry-breaking atomic forces in photoexcited bismuth

We present a first-principles method for the calculation of the polarization-dependent atomic forces resulting from optical excitation in a solid. We calculate the induced force driving the E(g) phonon mode in bismuth immediately after absorption of polarized light. When radiation with polarization perpendicular to the c axis is absorbed, the photoexcited charge density breaks the threefold rotational symmetry, leading to an atomic force component perpendicular to the axis. We calculate the initial excited electronic distribution as a function of photon energy and polarization and find the resulting atomic force components parallel and perpendicular to the axis. The magnitude of the calculated force is in excellent agreement with that derived from recent measurements of the amplitude of E(g) atomic motion and the decay time of several femtoseconds for the driving force.

Electron cooling and debye-waller effect in photoexcited bismuth

By means of first principles calculations, we compute the effective electron-phonon coupling constant G(0) governing the electron cooling in photoexcited bismuth. G(0) strongly increases as a function of electron temperature, which can be traced back to the semimetallic nature of bismuth. We also use a thermodynamical model to compute the time evolution of both electron and lattice temperatures following laser excitation. Thereby, we simulate the time evolution of (1 -1 0), (-2 1 1) and (2 -2 0) Bragg peak intensities measured by Sciaini et al. [Nature (London) 458, 56 (2009)] in femtosecond electron diffraction experiments. The effect of the electron temperature on the Debye-Waller factors through the softening of all optical modes across the whole Brillouin zone turns out to be crucial to reproduce the time evolution of these Bragg peak intensities.