Femtosecond nonlinear ultrasonics in gold probed with ultrashort surface plasmons

Vasily V. Temnov (), Christoph Klieber, Keith A. Nelson, Tim Thomay, Vanessa Knittel, Alfred Leitenstorfer, Denys Makarov, Manfred Albrecht and Rudolf Bratschitsch
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Vasily V. Temnov: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Christoph Klieber: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keith A. Nelson: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tim Thomay: University of Konstanz
Vanessa Knittel: University of Konstanz
Alfred Leitenstorfer: University of Konstanz
Denys Makarov: Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology
Manfred Albrecht: Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology
Rudolf Bratschitsch: Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Fundamental interactions induced by lattice vibrations on ultrafast time scales have become increasingly important for modern nanoscience and technology. Experimental access to the physical properties of acoustic phonons in the terahertz-frequency range and over the entire Brillouin zone is crucial for understanding electric and thermal transport in solids and their compounds. Here we report on the generation and nonlinear propagation of giant (1 per cent) acoustic strain pulses in hybrid gold/cobalt bilayer structures probed with ultrafast surface plasmon interferometry. This new technique allows for unambiguous characterization of arbitrary ultrafast acoustic transients. The giant acoustic pulses experience substantial nonlinear reshaping after a propagation distance of only 100 nm in a crystalline gold layer. Excellent agreement with the Korteveg-de Vries model points to future quantitative nonlinear femtosecond terahertz-ultrasonics at the nano-scale in metals at room temperature.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2480

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