Femtosecond electron-lattice thermalization dynamics in a gold film probed by pulsed surface plasmon resonance

摘要

The dynamics of electronic excitations and their relaxation in a gold film is studied on the femtosecond time scale with a pump-probe technique. For the pump beam we use pulses with wavelengths centered at 800 nm, 400 nm or both. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in Kretschmann's configuration is used as a sensitive and fast-response probe of the dynamics of the dielectric properties of the gold film. The quantity that is monitored is the intensity of the reflected light at an incidence angle close to the SPR. With changes of the dielectric properties induced by the pump beam and during subsequent relaxation, the amount of the reflected light of the probe beam, sent with a variable delay, also changes, thus providing information on the temporal characteristics of the thermalization process. Special features of SPR probing with short pulses are also accounted for in this work. The thermalization of the electronic subsystem and energy transfer to the lattice are discussed in connection with the two-temperature relaxation model that takes into account temperature dependences of the electronic heat capacity and the electron-phonon coupling.