In a thermally equilibrated system, electron behavior in a metal is described by the Fermi-Dirac equation. With ultrafast lasers, electrons can be excited into temporary distributions which are not described by the Fermi-Dirac equation and are therefore not at a well-defined temperature. These nonthermal distributions quickly equilibrate through two primary processes: electron-electron scattering and electron-phonon scattering. In most situations, these effects are unnoticeable, since they are completed within 5 ps. A probabilistic numerical model for electron-electron scattering is presented. The model is robust, scaleable, and requires only one parameter. The success of the model suggests future work on a similar electron-phonon scattering model, which would provide a complete description of the elctron distribution during thermalization. Once complete, this model can be tested by measuring the amount of second harmonic light generated by an ultrafast laser in a pump-probe experiment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CLAREMONT/oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:hmc_theses-1139 |
| Date | 01 May 2001 |
| Creators | SanGiorgio, Paul |
| Publisher | Scholarship @ Claremont |
| Source Sets | Claremont Colleges |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | HMC Senior Theses |
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