Electronic acceleration of atomic motions and disordering in bismuth

Germán Sciaini, Maher Harb, Sergei G. Kruglik, Thomas Payer, Christoph T. Hebeisen, Frank-J. Meyer zu Heringdorf, Mariko Yamaguchi, Michael Horn- von Hoegen, Ralph Ernstorfer and R. J. Dwayne Miller ()
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Germán Sciaini: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
Maher Harb: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
Sergei G. Kruglik: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
Thomas Payer: Fachbereich Physik and Center for Nanointegration Universität Duisburg-Essen
Christoph T. Hebeisen: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
Frank-J. Meyer zu Heringdorf: Fachbereich Physik and Center for Nanointegration Universität Duisburg-Essen
Mariko Yamaguchi: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
Michael Horn- von Hoegen: Fachbereich Physik and Center for Nanointegration Universität Duisburg-Essen
Ralph Ernstorfer: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
R. J. Dwayne Miller: University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada

Nature, 2009, vol. 458, issue 7234, 56-59

Abstract: Hustle in the melt Phase transformations such as freezing and melting are familiar phenomena, but the direct observation of the atomic-level structural changes involved has only been possible since the recent development of ultrafast diffraction methods. Sciaini et al. now use electron diffraction to show that the melting of crystalline bismuth upon laser excitation is exceptionally rapid, taking less than half the period of a lattice vibration. The extraordinary fast melting is attributed to profound laser-induced changes in the potential energy surface of the bismuth lattice: in the changed potential, the atoms experience strong driving forces that launch them from their initial equilibrium positions and towards the disorder typical of liquids.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07788

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