Education

• 2011- 2022, PhD Ultrafast Dynamics of Charge carriers in laser heated metals
  with Daniel Rich

  Abstract/Description: Short-pulse laser interaction with metals is a subject of practical engi-
  neering as well as fundamental scientic research.
  From the point of view of fundamental science, short-pulse laser irradi-
  ation has the ability to bring material into a highly non-equillibrium state
  and provides unique insights into material behavior under extreme condi-
  tions that cannot be easily attained by any other means. Indeed, scattering
  between electrons and phonons or impurities/defects on the femtosecond
  time scale was already implicitly conceived in the rst microscopic theories
  of electrical resistance [1], and has been studied extensively under Three
  Temperature state conditions (e.g. in transport measurements) [2].
  However, only the rapid advances of time-resolved spectroscopy during
  the past decades have made it possible to distinguish directly the dier-
  ent elementary scattering mechanisms of photo-excited carriers. In these
  experiments, an ultrashort light pulse excites the electrons. This collec-
  tive electron excitation rapidly dephases, giving an excited, non-thermal
  distribution of interacting electrons. Consequently this non-equilibrium
  distribution will (i) redistribute its energy by scattering among the quasi
  particles themselves via electron-electron (e 􀀀 e) scattering, leading to in-
  ternal thermalization of the electronic system and (ii) transfer energy to
  the lattice via electron-phonon (e 􀀀 ph) scattering, leading to cooling and
  relaxation within the lattice.
  The eects described so far have a local spatial impact on the dynam-
  ics of photo-excited carriers. The non-local nature of the spatio-temporal
  dynamics of electron and lattice temperatures is attributed to the diusion
  of heat in metals, which is crucial for a variety of applications of metal
  nanostructures.
  The main goal of the thesis is to research and analyze various processes
  related to the ultrafast dynamics of charge carriers in laser heated metals.
  In particular, analysis will be performed regarding the thermalization
  of charge carriers which can be attributed to the e 􀀀 e scattering eect,
  the relaxation of carriers which can be attributed to the e 􀀀 ph scattering
  eect and the non-local thermo-optical response that is due to the eect
  of thermal conductivity and leads to heat diusion. Comparison between
  dierent time scales related to each one of the processes will be presented.
  Further, a thorough analysis of the optical properties of Au will be
  presented. According to our model, two additional eects modify the di-
  electric function of Au: (i) the band shifting eect, which is related to the
  temperature dependence of the chemical potential of Au and (ii) the dipole
  matrix element temperature dependence (DMETD), which is related to the
  temperature dependence of the dipole matrix element. As far as we know,
  none of these eects and their physical interpretation has been presented
  in the current literature.
  The spatio-temporal dynamics of optically-induced transient Bragg grat-
  ings will be presented and analyzed for dierent excitation conditions.
  Finally, potential application of these phenomena in the eld of ultrafast
  optical switching will be discussed.

• 2007- 2010, MSc AC Losses in High Temperature Superconductors under non –Sinusoidal Conditions
  with Reuben Shuker