arXiv subjects

M. Pancaldi

Publications and source records attributed to M. Pancaldi.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Transient laser-induced periodic surface structures revealed by time-resolved EUV diffuse scattering

The formation of permanent laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on solid surfaces under impulsive laser irradiation above the damage threshold has been subject of extensive research. We demonstrate the formation of transient surface displacement patterns under femtosecond laser irradiation at fluences well below this threshold. Time-resolved extreme ultraviolet scattering measurements reveal distinct reciprocal-space features similar to those observed for permanent LIPSS but dissipating on the hundreds-of-picoseconds time scale. We show that the transient surface displacement patterns responsible for these features are produced via thermal expansion by the spatial modulation of absorbed laser intensity caused by scattering of the laser radiation by surface roughness and present a model accounting for the experimental observations. We suggest that our experiment revealed a universal phenomenon that will be observed on any strongly absorbing material under ultrafast laser irradiation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Time-domain extreme ultraviolet diffuse scattering spectroscopy of nanoscale surface phonons

We report the observation of dynamic fringe patterns in the diffuse scattering of extreme ultraviolet light from surfaces, following femtosecond optical excitation. At each point on the detector, the diffuse scattering intensity exhibits oscillations at well-defined frequencies that correspond to surface phonons with wave vectors determined by the scattering geometry, indicating that the optical excitation generates coherent surface phonons propagating in all directions and spanning a wavelength range from 60 to 300 nm. This phenomenon is observed on a variety of samples, including single-layer and multilayer metal films, as well as bulk semiconductors. The measured surface phonon dispersions show good agreement with theoretical calculations. By comparing signal amplitudes from samples with different surface morphologies, we find that the excitation mechanism is linked to the natural surface roughness of the samples. However, the signal is still detectable on extremely smooth surfaces with sub-nanometer roughness. Our findings demonstrate a simple and effective method for optically exciting coherent surface phonons with nanoscale wavelengths on a wide range of solid samples and establish a foundation for surface phonon spectroscopy in a wave vector range well beyond the limit of conventional surface Brillouin scattering.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Terahertz metamaterials for light-driven magnetism

We describe the design of two types of metamaterials aimed at enhancing terahertz field pulses that can be used to control the magnetic state in condensed matter systems. The first structure is a so-called "dragonfly" antenna, able to realize a five-fold enhancement of the impinging terahertz magnetic field, while preserving its broadband features. For currently available state-of-the-art table top sources, this leads to peak magnetic fields exceeding 1 T. The second structure is an octopole antenna aimed at enhancing a circularly-polarized terahertz electric field, while preserving its polarization state. We obtain a five-fold enhancement of the electric field, hence expected to exceed the 1 MV/cm peak amplitude. Both our structures can be readily fabricated on top of virtually any material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

High-resolution ptychographic imaging at a seeded free-electron laser source using OAM beams

Electromagnetic waves possessing orbital angular momentum (OAM) are powerful tools for applications in optical communications, new quantum technologies and optical tweezers. Recently, they have attracted growing interest since they can be harnessed to detect peculiar helical dichroic effects in chiral molecular media and in magnetic nanostructures. In this work, we perform single-shot per position ptychography on a nanostructured object at a seeded free-electron laser, using extreme ultraviolet OAM beams of different topological charge order $\ell$ generated with spiral zone plates. By controlling $\ell$, we demonstrate how the structural features of OAM beam profile determine an improvement of about 30% in image resolution with respect to conventional Gaussian beam illumination. This result extends the capabilities of coherent diffraction imaging techniques, and paves the way for achieving time-resolved high-resolution (below 100 nm) microscopy on large area samples.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Extreme ultraviolet transient gratings: A tool for nanoscale photoacoustics

Collective lattice dynamics determine essential aspects of condensed matter, such as elastic and thermal properties. These exhibit strong dependence on the length-scale, reflecting the marked wavevector dependence of lattice excitations. The extreme ultraviolet transient grating (EUV TG) approach has demonstrated the potential of accessing a wavevector range corresponding to the 10s of nm length-scale, representing a spatial scale of the highest relevance for fundamental physics and forefront technology, previously inaccessible by optical TG and other inelastic scattering methods. In this manuscript we report on the capabilities of this technique in the context of probing thermoelastic properties of matter, both in the bulk and at the surface, as well as discussing future developments and practical considerations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Terahertz electric-field driven dynamical multiferroicity in SrTiO$_3$

The emergence of collective order in matter is among the most fundamental and intriguing phenomena in physics. In recent years, the ultrafast dynamical control and creation of novel ordered states of matter not accessible in thermodynamic equilibrium is receiving much attention. Among those, the theoretical concept of dynamical multiferroicity has been introduced to describe the emergence of magnetization by means of a time-dependent electric polarization in non-ferromagnetic materials. In simple terms, a large amplitude coherent rotating motion of the ions in a crystal induces a magnetic moment along the axis of rotation. However, the experimental verification of this effect is still lacking. Here, we provide evidence of room temperature magnetization in the archetypal paraelectric perovskite SrTiO$_3$ due to this mechanism. To achieve it, we resonantly drive the infrared-active soft phonon mode with intense circularly polarized terahertz electric field, and detect a large magneto-optical Kerr effect. A simple model, which includes two coupled nonlinear oscillators whose forces and couplings are derived with ab-initio calculations using self-consistent phonon theory at a finite temperature, reproduces qualitatively our experimental observations on the temporal and frequency domains. A quantitatively correct magnitude of the effect is obtained when one also considers the phonon analogue of the reciprocal of the Einsten - de Haas effect, also called the Barnett effect, where the total angular momentum from the phonon order is transferred to the electronic one. Our findings show a new path for designing ultrafast magnetic switches by means of coherent control of lattice vibrations with light.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Ultrafast amplification and non-linear magneto-elastic coupling of coherent magnon modes in an antiferromagnet

We investigate the role of domain walls in the ultrafast magnon dynamics of an antiferromagnetic NiO single crystal in a pump-probe experiment with variable pump photon energy. Analysing the amplitude of the energy-dependent photo-induced ultrafast spin dynamics, we detect a yet unreported coupling between the material's characteristic THz- and a GHz-magnon modes. We explain this unexpected coupling between two orthogonal eigenstates of the corresponding Hamiltonian by modelling the magneto-elastic interaction between spins in different domains. We find that such interaction, in the non-linear regime, couples the two different magnon modes via the domain walls and it can be optically exploited via the exciton-magnon resonance.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2020

Nanoscale transient magnetization gratings excited and probed by femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses

We utilize coherent femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses derived from a free electron laser (FEL) to generate transient periodic magnetization patterns with periods as short as 44 nm. Combining spatially periodic excitation with resonant probing at the dichroic M-edge of cobalt allows us to create and probe transient gratings of electronic and magnetic excitations in a CoGd alloy. In a demagnetized sample, we observe an electronic excitation with 50 fs rise time close to the FEL pulse duration and ~0.5 ps decay time within the range for the electron-phonon relaxation in metals. When the experiment is performed on a sample magnetized to saturation in an external field, we observe a magnetization grating, which appears on a sub-picosecond time scale as the sample is demagnetized at the maxima of the EUV intensity and then decays on the time scale of tens of picoseconds via thermal diffusion. The described approach opens prospects for studying dynamics of ultrafast magnetic phenomena on nanometer length scales.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Anti-reflection coating design for metallic terahertz meta-materials

We demonstrate a silicon-based, single-layer anti-reflection coating that suppresses the reflectivity of metals at near-infrared frequencies, enabling optical probing of nano-scale structures embedded in highly reflective surroundings. Our design does not affect the interaction of terahertz radiation with metallic structures that can be used to achieve terahertz near-field enhancement. We have verified the functionality of the design by calculating and measuring the reflectivity of both infrared and terahertz radiation from a silicon/gold double layer as a function of the silicon thickness. We have also fabricated the unit cell of a terahertz meta-material, a dipole antenna comprising two 20-nm thick extended gold plates separated by a 2 $\mu$m gap, where the terahertz field is locally enhanced. We used the time-domain finite element method to demonstrate that such near-field enhancement is preserved in the presence of the anti-reflection coating. Finally, we performed magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements on a single 3-nm thick, 1-$\mu$m wide magnetic wire placed in the gap of such a dipole antenna. The wire only occupies 2\% of the area probed by the laser beam, but its magneto-optical response can be clearly detected. Our design paves the way for ultrafast time-resolved studies, using table-top femtosecond near-infrared lasers, of dynamics in nano-structures driven by strong terahertz radiation.

physics.app-ph↗